


Poisoned

by MidnightBlaze16



Series: Poisoned [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Angst, F/F, I'm Sorry, Might add more tags later, also some fluff but mostly angst, maybe some sexual references? Not sure if they count though, set 2 years after Pokemon Sun and Moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 22,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlaze16/pseuds/MidnightBlaze16
Summary: “We have recently received reports of multiple attacks last night by what appears to be a Pokemon. Those attacked have fallen into comas, and seem to be affected by some strange unknown poison..."While out with her friends Moon and Hau, Lillie suddenly comes down with a strange illness...





	1. Chapter 1

It was a bright, sunny day in the Alola region - the first one anyone had seen in a long time. So, naturally, Alola’s first Pokemon Champion had to take this opportunity to hang out with her friends while she had the chance.

Moon sat on the couch watching the news with her mother, a plate of pancakes resting on her lap. _“The rain has finally ended for a while, giving way to a bright, sunny day with a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius...”_

“So, go any plans for today?” Moon’s mother asked.

Moon nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna go hang out with Hau and Lillie. We’re meeting at Hau’oli city at 9 o’ clock.”

“You better hurry then,” the woman stated. “It’s 8:55 right now”

“WAIT WHAT!?” Moon exclaimed, starting to shovel pieces of pancake into her mouth. In less that a minute she was done - although it made quite a mess - and on her way to her bedroom to grab her bag and Pokeballs. Running down the stairs whilst throwing her bag on her back, she waved to her mother as she left the house. The door slammed shut, leaving the house in silence, apart from sound of the TV.

 _“We have recently received reports of multiple attacks last night by what appears to be a Pokemon..._  

 

 

“Hey, Moon!” The girl turned to the source of the voice, finding her best friend and rival waving at her enthusiastically. Next to him stood a blonde girl with a ponytail.

“Hey Hau, hey Lillie,” Moon greeted them as she walked over. “Good to see ya!”

“Same to you!”

Lillie simply stood to the side watching Moon and Hau greet each other. “I swear that best friend handshake gets longer every time they see each-other...” She couldn’t help but feel left out. She knew it was her fault - she’s the one who left for Kanto for 9 months after all, it’s only natural they would’ve bonded without her. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like she had drifted away from her two best friends. What if it never got better? What if she would always be the third wheel, the awkward ‘other friend’ who was only invited to stuff if the other two needed an extra person?

Lillie was snapped out her thoughts when she was suddenly hugged from behind.

“Eep!”

“Hey, what’s with that face?” Moon asked, poking at Lillie’s cheek as the blonde girl blushed. “Something on your mind?”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Lillie lied.

Moon frowned, not believing her at all, but decided to let it go for now. If Lillie didn’t wanna talk about it, she wasn’t gonna make her.

“Alright then...so,” Moon said, grinning as she let go of the other girl. “What’s the plan for today?”

“I figured we could go for some malasadas and then maybe head to the beach for a while!” Hau suggested.

“Good idea Hau!” Lillie exclaimed. “I’ve been really hungry all morning...”

 

 

Something was wrong with Lillie. Moon could tell. She was eating really slowly, despite saying she was hungry, and seemed to be struggling to swallow. Hau was oblivious to this of course. Not that it was his fault - after all, people don’t usually notice these things. Moon’s always just been extra observant.

Hau was in the middle of telling a story about the time his Grandfather had gotten drunk and mistaken him for a Golisopod when Lillie suddenly let out a loud cough. Moon looked at her and was about to ask what was wrong when Lillie stood up, leaning on the table with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. “I-I’ll be right back!” she coughed, rushing towards the bathroom.

 

 

Hau glanced at his watch again. “Lillie’s been in there for while, huh..?”

“Yeah...” Moon agreed, standing up. “I’m gonna go find her.”

“I’ll go with you-” Hau offered.

“She went into the girl’s bathroom!”

“...Oh yeah.”

 

 

Moon slowly opened the door to the girl’s bathroom, not at all surprised by the completely lack of cleanliness in the room. The walls were covered in graffiti and some of the paint was peeling off of the bricks, and much of the floor was covered in dirt. Surprisingly, only one stall was occupied.

“Lillie? Are you in here?” Moon asked as she stepped towards the door, receiving no reply. Moon walked closer towards the occupied stall, noticing that the door was unlocked and slightly ajar. “Lillie?” she asked quietly, opening the door slowly.

Moon wasn’t sure what she expected to see, but she certainly didn’t expect to see Lillie bent over a toilet, heaving whilst struggling to breathe.

“Oh crap- Lillie, are you OK?” Moon asked rushing over to the girl. She bent over to try pat her back when she noticed something.

She was expecting to see puke in the stained toilet bowl, not a puddle of blood mixed with some mysterious black liquid.

“Shit...”

 

 

After five minutes of dry heaving and coughing up more of that bloody mixture, Lillie finally sat up. “I-I think I’m OK now...thanks Moon.”

“No problem,” Moon said, taking Lillie’s hand to help her stand up. As she pulled her hand away, she noticed some of the bloody mixture had ended up on her hand. Moon turned to Lillie, who was washing her hands in the only sink that worked.

"Lillie.”

Lillie turned to Moon, shocked by her unusually serious tone. “Yeah?”

“You think you’ll be OK to ride a Tauros for a little bit?” Moon asked.

“Huh? Why?”

“We need to get to Professor Kukui, ASAP."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“So, what did you find?” Moon asked.

“Well,” Professor Kukui said, lifting his eyes from the microscope he’d been looking through. “This is indeed Lillie’s blood, however it appears to be mixed with some strange substance.” He picked up a piece of paper on his desk, scanning it for a moment, before putting it down and picking up the petri dish that held the mixture. 

“Well, yeah, even I could see that-”

“Let me finish!”

“Sorry.”

Moon watched as the normally relaxed professor rushed from one side of the lab to another, frantically picking up all sorts of equipment and tools, then putting them down and running to the other side of the lab to do the same with another. After telling Hau that Lillie hadn’t been feeling well, she brought the girl to Kukui’s lab and showed him the blood smear left on her hand. He’d taken a sample of it and was now meticulously analysing it while Moon and Lillie sat on a couch near the door.

“I can’t tell without doing a more thorough analysis, but the black substance appears to be poison from some type of unknown Pokemon...”

“A Pokemon?” Moon asked.

“Yes,” Kukui nodded, typing something into a computer. “It appears to have been in her system for a while, at least over 9 months.”

“So it can’t have happened when she was in Kanto...” Moon turned to the girl next to her, who had been silent for the whole conversation.

The 3 of them sat in silence for a while, the only sound being the shuffling of papers and the occasional click of a keyboard. Lillie was leaning on Moon’s shoulder, practically unconscious, while Moon held on to her and stroked her back. Her breathing was slow and heavy, and she could barely breathe without her lungs feeling like they would explode. It broke the trainer’s heart to see her like this - Lillie was usually so strong and full of life, but now she looked like she could collapse at any moment.

“...Hey, Kukui?”

“Yeah?”

“Will Lillie be OK?”

For a few minutes, Kukui didn’t respond. 

“She should be fine. She’ll need to stay here overnight though.” he said eventually.

“I’ll stay too!”

“...m-moon it’s f-fine...” Lillie muttered.

“No, it’s not.” Moon argued. “Something’s seriously wrong with you and I won’t be able to relax until we find out what the problem is.”

Lillie’s eyes widened slightly. “Moon...”

“What about your mother?” Kukui asked. “Won’t she be worried?”

“It’s fine, I just gotta call her and let her know I won’t be coming home tonight. I’m the Alola Champion, she’s used to it.” Moon insisted. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“OK then, if you insist...”

 

Moon was awoken by the sound of a phone ringing. She reached for her bedside table to turn it of, only to end up slamming her wrist on the arm of the couch. Slowly opening her eyes, she remembered that she had stayed at Kukui’s house overnight - there wasn’t enough room for her in the house, so unless she wanted to share a bed with a bunch of Stuffuls, she’d have to sleep on the couch. She slowly sat up and reached for her worn bag, pulling out her phone and answering without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” she answered slowly, rubbing her eyes as she struggled to keep them open.

“Moon, it’s Kahuna Hala! You need to come to Hau’oli hospital, quick!”

“Kahuna? What’s up?” Moon asked, now wide awake and concerned. The kahuna never called her, and the worried tone in his voice was very uncharacteristic of him.

“It’s Hau! He’s been attacked!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shamelessly uses the nicknames I gave my Pokemon during my own Pokemon Moon playthrough*
> 
> Appreciate my nicknaming skills

Moon never liked hospitals.

They were too clean. Too quiet. The atmosphere was heavy, suffocating even. 

Waiting rooms were the worst.

The only sound in the room was the ticking of a clock on the wall as Moon fidgeted with her hands and bounced her leg, sitting on a plain white couch that was a lot less comfortable than it looked. 

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and glance up to see Kahuna Hala looking at her sadly. “Calm down. Hau will be fine.”

Moon glared and turned away from him. “You don’t really believe that...”

“Come on now, you know what Hau’s like,” Hala smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “He may be hurt right now, but he’ll be fine. He’ll plough through it, just like he always does.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right...” Moon chuckled. “He’s so stubborn...”

A door opened and a nurse, dressed in full white came through, approaching Moon and Hala.

“Hau is still unconscious,” she informed them. “But for now, he’s stable. You can come and see him now. Please follow me.” 

Hala stood up, chair creaking slightly as he did, and offered a hand to Moon. She reluctantly took it, allowing him to lift her off the chair. She turned to the nurse, who was standing by the door, waiting for them. Moon couldn’t help but not trust the woman - she reminded her too much of one of the many Aether Foundation employees she had to fight in the past. Still, she couldn’t exactly ignore the woman...

 

“What do you think, Chisana?” Moon asked her Pikachu, who was standing on a desk in Hau’s hospital room, studying a computer monitor in front of them. On the monitor was a photo of Hau’s wound - lined up with many just like it. Apparently, these injuries belonged to several different people, and these injuries first appeared a few nights ago.

Chisana nodded her head, heart-shaped tail bouncing with the movement. 

“What is it?” Hala asked, leaning over Moon’s shoulder to see the photo better.

“A while ago, I had to catch some rogue Pokemon for the Interpol,” Moon informed him. “At one point, Chisana was battling a Tentacruel when it impaled her with it’s tentacle. The wound looked pretty similar to these ones,” she pointing at the photos on the screen. “So it would be reasonable to assume that whatever inflicted these wounds as some kind of tentacles.”

“What about the poison?” Hau’s doctor, Dr. Fern, asked.

“Poison?”

The doctor nodded. “Every person with that injury also had a strange poison in their bloodstream, which is presumably what put them in a coma in the first place.” he said. “Any idea where it could be from?”

“Hmm...I don’t know.” Moon shook her head. “But you could try and send a sample to Kukui, maybe he can figure it out.”

Dr Fern nodded. “I’ll collect a sample right away.”

Moon didn’t respond, instead walking over to the bed her best friend was lying on. He was strangely pale, and his chest was barely rising - if not for the continuous beeping of the heart monitor by his bed, Moon would’ve worried that he wasn’t breathing at all. 

Moon put a hand on his arm. He was cold. “First Lillie, now this...” she muttered. “I’ve always attracted trouble, but this is ridiculous...”

Usually Hau would’ve laughed at that. He didn’t.

Moon squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears. Her grip on Hau’s arm tightened, and she vowed to get revenge on whatever did this to him...

No matter what it took.

 

It was getting dark by the time Moon arrived back at the lab.

She hopped jumped off the Taurus, patting his back. “Thanks for the ride buddy.” The Pokemon nodded in response, galloping off to wherever he lived. Moon reached into her bag as she walked towards the door, taking out the vial Dr. Fern had given her. Pushing the door open with one hand, she tilted the vial from left to right, watching the thick, black liquid inside swish around inside the container. 

“Oi Kukui- woah, what happened here?” Moon finally looked up from the vial and was shocked to see what a mess the lab had become.

Desks were covered with a variety glass beakers and tubes, most of which holding strange mixtures. Papers were strewn all over the wooden floor, a disheveled Professor sitting in the middle of them. Rockruff was standing just outside the circle of papers, staring at his trainer, looking quite concerned. Next to him was an unimpressed Professor Burnet.

Moon walked over to Burnet, not taking her eyes off Kukui as he muttered to himself angrily. “What’s up with him?” she asked.

“Short answer - he’s been trying to figure out what that substance is that was in Lillie’s blood,” Burnet replied. “He’s been searching all day.”

“Damn...think he could quickly analyse this for me?” Moon asked, holding up the vial. “The hospital people can’t figure out what kinda poison it is, so I said I’d ask Kukui.”

“Sure, I’ll make sure he gets around to it,” Burnet said, taking the vial. “For now, you go home and get some rest.”

“What about-”

“Lillie will be fine. You don’t have to stay with her all the time y’know,” Burnet said. “Beside, you’re mother’s probably worried about you.

“Yeah, you’re right...” Moon said, reluctantly walking over the door and picking up her bag. “Call me if anything - and I mean anything - happens, OK?”

“Sure thing.”

Moon grinned. “Thanks.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I didn't mean for this chapter to get so long it just happened

**_It was nighttime, and yet the moon shone as brightly as the sun. Lillie and Moon were sitting together in Melemele Meadow, a basket that used to hold malasadas in between them. Thier Pokemon were out of their Pokeballs, playing in the meadow, with the exception of Lillie’s Kantonian Meowth, who was fast asleep in the basket, and Moon’s Inciniroar, Kurone, who was resting his head on her lap while she petted him like she used to when he was just a Litten. “Moon.” “Hm?” Moon looked up and stopped petting Kurone, causing him to open his eyes glare at her. “Thank you,” Lillie smiled, putting her hand on top of Moon’s and blushing. She closed her eyes and leaned towards Moon, blushing. Moon leant towards her, until they were mere millimetres apart. Their lips met-_ **

**-CRASH-**

Moon bolted up as the sound of glass shattering woke her from her dream. She turned to the now broken window, seeing a strange figure kneeling amongst the glass shards.

“Um...hi?” Moon said, tightening her grip on her blanket.

In a sudden movement, the figure jolted upright. It’s gold eyes shined through the darkness, it’s long, black, gold-streaked hair blowing in the wind. It appeared to be wearing some kind of white clothing, but it was too ripped to tell what it was meant to be. White, almost transluscent tentacles waved in the air as it grinned menacingly.

Moon slowly stepped out of bed, grabbing her closest Pokeball. For a few moments, she and the figure stared at eachother in silence.

The creatures grin widened, and it leapt at Moon, tentancles poised to strike. Moon leapt to the ground, wincing as a shard of glass dug into her shoulder, as the creature crashed into her bed. While it got back on it’s feet, Moon stood up, and was about to release her Pokemon when she realised she’d dropped the Pokeball. The creature, now back on it’s feet, once again lunged at her. Moon ducked out of the way just in time. Looking around frantically, she saw her Pokeball has rolled underneath her desk. She made a dive for it as a tentacle swung through the air, just missing her head.

Moon grabbed the Pokeball, and threw it out.

A crash was heard as a large wing knocked over a bookcase, and the Lunala let out a screech.

Moon wasted no time in getting back on her feet and giving them a command. “Nebby, use Moongeist Beam!” As the Pokemon brought it’s wings together, lighting up like a star, Moon finally got a good look at the creature that had attacked her.

“...Lillie?”

The creature squinted and hissed at the bright light, and, just before Nebby unleashed the attack, it - no, she - escaped through the window.

Moon ran over to where her window used to be, watching the figure run away, disappearing into the darkness.

“I think we found out what’s been attacking all those people...”

 

 

“What do you mean Lillie isn’t there?”

 _“I went to check up on her after taking a break, but she was gone! I never even noticed her leave!”_ Kukui exclaimed. _“Where could she have even gone?”_

Moon looked over at Nebby, who was helping pick up some of the glass on the floor. “I might have an idea...”

She put her phone on speaker and grabbed a jacket out of her closet and slipped it on. “I need you to analyse that vial with the black mixture in it.” she said as she picked up Nebby’s Pokeball and retrieved them, putting the ball in her pocket. “Compare it to the mixture you found in Lillie’s blood.” She picked up two more Pokeballs and put those in her other pocket. “I’ll go look for her.”

_“You sure? What if that thing that attacked Hau comes after you?”_

“...it won’t. Just trust me on this one.”

Kukui sighed. _“If you’re sure. I’ll call you if I find anything. Stay safe cousin.”_

“I will.”

 

 

As Moon walked through Melemele Meadow, memories of the dream she had rushed through her mind. She blushed, then fiercely shook her head. “Focus, Moon. Where would she hide..?”

After a moment of thinking, Moon pulled out a Pokeball and released the Pokemon inside - an Umbreon.

“Shinku, I need you to find Lillie. Can you do that?” Moon asked.

Shinku nodded, lowering his snout and sniffing the grass for a few second, then running off in a certain direction. Moon ran after him, struggling to keep up. Wild Pokemon of all kinds were disturbed from their slumber as the Pokemon and trainer ran through the grass.

The sun was starting to rise when they came to stop outside Verdant Cavern. Shinku approached the opening, then shied away. Whatever was in there, it was freaking him out.

“Is she in there?” Moon asked. Shinku turned around and nodded. Moon thanked him, and returned him to his Pokeball. She turned to the entrance and, after taking a deep breath, stepped inside.

“Lillie? Are you in here?” Moon shouted, voice echoing throughout the cavern. She walked further inside, searching every section of the cave, ignoring the stares of many a Rattata and Raticate. She stepped into the area where she had battled the Totem Raticate.

She found Lillie.

She was lying unconscious on the floor, clothes shredded and hair a mess. She was covered in bruises and dirt, as if she had simply collapsed onto the cold stone floor.

“LILLIE!!” Moon rushed over and sat next to Lillie, lifting her head onto her lap. “Lillie, wake up!”

She moaned weakly as she opened her eyes, looking up at the Champion. “M-moon..?”

Moon let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god you’re OK...”

Lillie looked around. “W-where are we...”

“Verdant Cavern.”

“Oh...w-wait, what happened to my clothes?” she sat up, blushing and attempting to cover up the holes in her clothing, but not really getting anywhere. She turned to Moon. “W-wait, you weren’t looking were you??”

“R-relax, I didn’t look...besides, all the embarrassing parts were covered up anyway...”

“THE FACT THAT YOU KNOW THAT MEANS YOU LOOKED!”

“I WAS JUST WORRIED, OK?”

Lillie went quiet. “You...you were?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Moon asked, concerned.

Lillie turned away. “Nevermind...”

For a moment, the two of them sat in silence. It was only then that Moon noticed how tired Lillie looked. Hey usually bright green eyes had become dull, and she had bags under her eyes. Her hair was disheveled and she looked like she was struggling to keep her eyes open - it was almost as if she hadn’t been sleeping at all...

“Lillie-” Moon was interrupted by her phone ringing.

She took it out of her pocket and answered. “Kukui, what is it?”

 _“I don’t know how you knew, but you were right!”_ he said. Various sounds in the background hinted that he was rushing around the lab moving stuff again. _“The serum that the hospital gave you is identical to that in Lillie’s blood!”_

“I knew it...”

 _“However, for some reason it’s affecting her way differently that others it’s infected.”_ he continued. _“While others fall into a coma when it enters thier bloodstream, she was infected with a small amount of it months ago, and only now is it starting to affect her. And instead of having her fall into a comatose state, she simply has to deal with nausea, a cough and other symptoms. Also-”_

“Look, can I just stop you there? Cuz I have no idea what half of this even means.” Moon said. “I found Lillie, so I’ll meet you back the lab, alright?”

_“Oh! Good! OK, I’ll see you then!”_

Moon hung up and tucked her phone into her pocket. Standing up, she walked over to Lillie and picked her up bridal style. “H-hey, what are you-” “You’re hurt, I don’t want you walking,” Moon explained. “We’re going back to Kukui’s place.”

Lillie pouted, crossing her arms. “I can walk just fine on my own...”

She didn’t seem to want Moon to put her down though.

 

 

Moon tapped the arm of the couch impatiently, a confused Lillie - now dressed in clean, non-shredded clothes - sitting next to her as Kukui and Burnet discuss something in hushed voices. Kukui’s Rockruff sat next to them, leaning on Lillie’s leg as she absentmindedly petted him.

Lillie was scared. She could tell that Moon was worried about her. The whole time travelling back to the lab, Moon had carried Lillie, walking slowly and taking long detours in order to avoid running into any wild Pokemon. The way Moon held her made her feel so fragile - like she could shatter at any moment, like glass. Why would she act like that? Moon was always saying that she was strong, and now she's treating her like she could fade away at any moment? Was something wrong with her?

Lillie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If Kukui wouldn’t tell her what was wrong, maybe Moon would.

“Moon, what-” Lillie gasped as she noticed the bloodstain soaking through the arm of Moon’s jacket. “Moon, what happened to your arm!?”

“Huh? Oh,” Moon took off her jacket, revealing a shard of glass digging into her shoulder. The wound had been bleeding for a while, and streams of blood ran down her arm. “I uh, well, um...”

“How long as that been there?”

“I dunno, a few hours now?”

“MOON”

“I FORGOT ABOUT IT OK”

“What’s going on over there?” Burnet shouted from the computer she and Kukui had been staring at.

“Moon got hurt and completely forgot about it!” Lillie said.

“Lillie they didn’t need to know-”

“I can’t believe you!” Lillie turned and gave Moon a withering glare. “How do you even forget about something like that?”

“Because I was too worried about you!” Moon argued.

“WHO CARES!”

The tone in Lillie’s voice shocked Moon as she leant back into the sofa. “L-look, I’m sorry alri-”

“No, it’s not alright! You shouldn’t have left it there, you could get an infection!” Lillie ranted. “And - and you carried me all the way here, you shouldn’t be moving that arm at all, and you carried me?? Are you insane?”

“Well yeah I thought we established that-”

“THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE JOKING ABOUT”

“Lillie,”

Moon grabbed Lillie’s hands with her own and held them to her chest. “I’m fine. I’m strong, you know I am.”

“But-”

“Lillie listen to me,” Moon tightened her grip on Lillie’s hands. “I’ll be alright. What’s more important right now is making sure that you will be alright as well.”

“W-what do you-” Lillie was interrupted by the ringing of Moon’s phone.

Moon shot Lillie an apologetic glance and reluctantly let go of her hands, picking up the phone and checking the caller ID. “Oh crap it’s my Mum”

“Why is that bad?”

“She doesn’t know I left the house.”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL HER”

“I WAS IN A HURRY” Moon tapped the ‘Answer’ button and held the phone to her ear. “H-hi Mum...”

Lillie didn’t know what was being said, but based on the loud - though unintelligible - sounds coming from the phone and Moon's cringe, it was clear that Moon’s mother wasn’t very happy about her daughter’s disappearance.

“S-sorry Mum-”

_“I come into your room and see that your window is completely shattered, 3 of your Pokeballs gone, and no sign of you anywhere, and you think that ‘sorry’ is going to cut it? I thought you had been kidnapped!”_

“I know, I know, I just-”

 _“No excuses! You come home right now, or I’ll come over there and bring you home myself!”_

“But Lillie-”

_“The professors are quite capable of taking care of her! She doesn’t need you to be there with her every minute of the day - I know you love her, but-”_

Moon’s face turned red. “I DO NOT-”

_“But she can take care of herself!”_

“...”

_“She’ll be alright. Lillie’s strong, you know that just as well as anyone.”_

“Yeah...right. You’re right. I’ll come home.”

_“Good. I’ll be waiting outside for you.”_

“OK. Bye.” Moon didn’t wait for her mother to say goodbye as she hung up. “I gotta go, Mum’s worried about me,” she explained.

“I’ll come with you.” Lillie offered.

“You have to stay here-”

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea!” Kukui intervened. “You would be able to monitor her and avoid upsetting your mother at the same time!”

“But what if-”

Burnet walked over. “I’d be happy to stay at Moon’s house for the night in case anything happens.

Moon thought it over. Kukui had a point - it would certainly be easier for everyone if Lillie stayed with her for a while. But, if Moon theory was true, then she could be putting her mother in danger... But from the way Lillie and Burnet were looking at her, Moon knew they wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.


	5. Chapter 5

“Sorry for intruding like this...” Lillie apologised for the fifth time.

“I told you, it’s fine!” Moon’s mother said as she took the Tauros steak off the stove, turning off the flame. “You’re always welcome here!”

“Thanks for understanding.” Burnet said from the dinner table where she was setting up all her equipment.

When Moon arrived home, her mother had been surprised to see her bringing two guests with her, but welcomed them with open arms. Moon and Lillie were sitting on the couch after the two older women had agreed that it would be easier to just eat at the couch and let Burnet have the table to herself. 

“It’s no problem at all!” Moon’s mother insisted as she put the steaks onto 4 different plates, putting a fifth steak into a plastic container for later. “It’s great to have guests over, Moon rarely ever invites anyone!”

“That’s because I’m barely home - it would be rude if I invited someone over and just left them here.” Moon explained. Truthfully, part of her hoped that her mother wouldn’t let them stay in the first place. 

Burnet walked over to counter and started having a quiet conversation with Moon’s mother about something, leaving Moon and Lillie in awkward silence. 

Lillie glanced over to Moon’s arm, which had been wrapped in a bandage. Moon noticed her staring and smiled comfortingly. 

“I’m fine, see?” she said, flexing her arm. “Nothing a couple of bandages can’t fix!”

Lillie pouted. “Still, it could’ve been much worse!”

“You worry too much.”

“Look who’s talking - you’re the one who was too worried about someone else to care about your own wellbeing!”

Moon chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, good point...”

They both went quiet again. 

A few minutes later, Burnet and Moon’s mother walked over holding two plates each, each plate holding a steak and various vegetable. Burnet gave her two to Lillie and Moon, taking her own plate from Moon’s mother and sitting down on the other couch after. The four of them sat together and ate dinner, watching some kid’s movie about a Rockruff who thinks he has superpowers and a Meowth.

 

“Wait, where are they gonna sleep?” Moon asked suddenly.

“Hm?” Lillie glance over at Moon as she swallows the piece of steak she had been chewing.

“Well, we only have one couch that’s long enough for someone to sleep on. And we have two guests...” Moon pointed out, pointing at Lillie and Burnet with her fork. “So where are they going to sleep?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Moon mother said, closing her eyes and leaning back into the chair. “Lillie can share a bed with you!”

It was a good thing Lillie hadn’t been chewing on anything, because she would’ve spit it out in shock. The same couldn’t be said for Moon, who had almost choked on her drink.

“W-WAIT WHAT”

“I mean...” Lillie felt her cheeks burning as she looked away sheepishly. “It would probably be the easiest solution...”

“Perfect! Then it’s decided!” Moon mother clapped her hands together, a cheerful grin on her place. “Professor Burnet can sleep on the couch, and Lillie can sleep with Moon!”

Moon blushed, flailing her arms. “MUM YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY IT LIKE THAT”

The woman simply laughed at Moon’s distress, Lillie hiding her burning face as Burnet watched in amusement.

 

When Lillie entered Moon’s room, there was one thing she noticed before anything else. 

“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR WINDOW”

“Oh. Yeah. That,” Moon chuckled sheepishly. “Actually, funny story-”

“Is that how you got the wound on your arm!?!” 

“NO. MAYBE.”

“MOON”

“I BLAME NEBBY”

“I seriously doubt that Nebby did this.”

“You’d be surprised...” Moon muttered as she bent down to lift the bookshelf that Nebby had knocked over during the battle from the previous night. 

Lillie, feeling awkward just standing there, walked over to help. “Do you want me to-”

“No, no just...just wait over there please,” Moon said, voice getting quieter with every syllable.

“OK...” Lillie backed away, instead opting to sit on the bed. Moon’s mother’s Meowth, who had been asleep on the bed, looked over to her, then turned away.

“Hey, Lillie, you have a Meowth, right?” 

“Hm? Yeah I do,” Lillie replied, confused. “Why?”

“See if your Meowth and Mum’s Meowth can be friends,” Moon suggested.

“Oh! Good idea!” Lillie said, smiling. She walked over to her bag where she held her Pokeballs and took one out. “Go for it Whiskers!”

The Pokeball opened up, and Lillie’s own Kantonian Meowth exiting, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He turned to Lillie questioningly.

“Sorry to wake you up, but I wanted to introduce you to someone!” Lillie said, picking the cat Pokemon up and placing him next to the other Meowth, who was now staring intently at the two of them. Whiskers sat down in front of it and meowed. Meowth meowed back. Soon, the two of them were having a full on conversaion.

“OK that is just plain adorable.” Moon pointed out, Lillie nodding in a agreement, not taking her eyes off the two Pokemon as they interact. 

Moon glanced over to her. For the first time in a while, the girl had a genuine smile on her face, her eyes lighting up with joy. Something about the way she looked made Moon’s heart beat faster.

Lillie noticed that someone was staring at her and turned to Moon, confused. “What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“Uh, n-no, it’s nothing!” Moon stammered. “Anyway, we should probably be getting to bed...”

Lillie sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Although...” she looked over to the bed, where Meowth and Whiskers were fast asleep, curled up together. “I don’t really want to move them...” 

Moon laughed. “Me neither, but with them on the bed, that doesn’t leave any room for us!”

“Now that you mention it...” Lillie said, looking closely at the bed. “I’m not sure we’ll both fit either way...”

“It is pretty small...” Moon commented, closing her eyes and thinking. After a few moments, Moon opened her eyes. “I got it! I’ll sleep with my head at one end of the bed, and you can sleep with your head at the other end!”

“ALL THAT WILL DO IS MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO KICK ME IN THE FACE”

“I’M NOT GONNA KICK YOU I PROMISE”

“...”

“...”

“You know, it would be a lot easier if we just cuddled or something...” Lillie suggested nervously.

“Cuddled..?” Moon cleared her throat and tried to hold back the blush she felt forming on her face. “I mean, sure, that could work I guess...”

Moon walked over and lifted up her mother’s Meowth, and Lillie brought Whiskers back into his Pokeball. After putting Meowth down on the floor, Moon crawled into bed, pulling up the covers.

“Um...just climb in here I guess?” Moon said, patting the spot next to her on the bed. 

“OK...” Lillie hesitantly stepped over to the bed, and, lifting the covers, laid down next to Moon.

For a moment, the two of them just lied there, staring at each-other, faces mere inches apart. Lillie looked away, suddenly finding that one Pikachu plush of Moon’s quite interesting as she tried to ignore her vicious blush. Taking a deep breath, she felt herself start to relax.

Until Moon wrapped her arms around her waist.

“M-Moon?!?”

“You’re practically falling of the bed. Come closer.”

Lillie turned back to Moon and noticed just how red the trainer looked. A glimmer of hope flickered in her heart, but she pushed it away, not wanting to get her hopes up. She tentatively moved closer, and, finding nowhere else to put them, put her arms around Moon’s chest, holding onto her back. Moon leaned forward, burying her face in the crook of Lillie’s neck. Lillie could feel the other girl’s breath on her neck as she pulled Lillie close, pressing their bodies together. They way Moon wrapped her strong arms around Lillie made her feel safe and secure, and she found herself relaxing into Moon’s grasp.

“Goodnight Lillie...” Moon murmered, already drifting asleep.

“Goodnight, Moon...”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed all the fluff last chapter because it's not gonna last much longer

Moon awoke to a smack in the face. 

“OW! Lillie, what the he- Lillie?” 

Lillie, who appeared to still be asleep, was fiercely writhing in pain, occasionally letting out a soft whimper. The blanket she had been sleeping under had been discarded on the floor as she thrashed around.

“Shitshitshit- Lillie, wake up!!” Moon got up onto her knees and put her hand on Lillie’s shoulder, shaking her rapidly. “Lillie!”

The blonde girl’s eyes shot open, letting out a cry of pain as her eyes glowed gold for a few seconds before flickering back to green. She sat up and whipped her head around to Moon, staring at her as her eyes flickered from green to gold and back again. Moon put her arms on Lillie’s shoulders. “Lillie, calm down! You’re OK, it’s gonna be OK!” 

Lillie’s breaths began to slow to a steady pace, and her thrashing had been reduced to a simple twitch in her fingers.

“M-Moon...” she lifted her gaze to meet Moon’s concerned eyes. “What’s wrong with me?”

Moon was about to respond when Lillie doubled over again, coughing heavily into her hand. “Oh shit,” Moon leapt out of bed, running over to the door. “I’ll go get Burnet-”

“N-no, p-please don’t-don’t leave me-” Lillie stuttered. She was barely able to hold herself up, her arms trembling as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Lillie...”

Moon could only watch as Lillie’s eyes fell closed and her arms gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

“Lillie!” Moon ran over to her, about to help her up when she let out a piercing scream. A strange, somehow black light enveloped Lillie’s body and her screams got louder and louder. Moon couldn’t do anything but watch as tentacles erupted from her back, waving menacingly, her golden hair turning into a murky black. 

The light faded, and Lillie opened her sharp, gold eyes.

Moon stared at her in shock, not wanting it to be true but knowing that it is, having known it ever since she’d been attacked the previous night.

“I was right...”

Lillie stood up, wobbling in place slightly and staring Moon down, a sadistic grin on her face. She rushed forward, swinging a tentacle at Moon and hitting her right in the stomach, sending her flying into the wall. Moon's back slammed into the wall and a shockwave of pain ran from her body as she collapsed onto the floor. 

“Lillie, stop!” Moon cried, wincing in pain and leaning forward to stand up. Her only response was a tentacle flying towards her face. Moon dodged out of the way just in time, and the tentacle stabbed into the wall. Black poison dripped off of the limb, and it retracted itself, leaving a hole in the wall. Moon stumbled onto her feet, ignoring the ache in her back.

“Y’know for a limb that’s supposed to be soft and squishy, that looked a lot more solid,” Moon commented. Lillie clearly wasn’t amused and she tackled Moon to the floor, holding her down by her wrists and straddling her waist.

Moon grinned, chuckling nervously. “Going a bit fast, a-aren’t we?”

Lillie was not amused, and Moon barely missed another tentacle to the face.

“Y’know, you’ve broken a lot stuff in my room lately.”

Moon’s bedroom door burst open and Professor Burnet rushed into the room. “Moon, Lillie what’s happening- what on earth?”

“...”

“It’s not what it looks like. It really isn’t.”

Lillie shifted her focus towards the intruder, growling. Poison dripped from her fangs as she screeched at the professor and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground.

“H-hey!” Burnet grabbed at Lillie’s arms, attempting to push her away. “Get off of me, you monster!!”

For a moment, Moon saw Lillie hesitate. For a moment, the vicious aggression and anger in her eyes gave way to sadness and fear.

For a moment, everything stopped.

It was over as quickly as it began.

Lillie turned her head towards the door for a few seconds before turning around and exiting via Moon’s still broken window.

Moments later, Moon’s mother opened the door. “What’s going on in here? What happened?” She looked around, counting the people in her head. “Where’s Lillie?”

“I don’t know,” Moon replied quietly as she walked over to the window, grabbing her bag and Pokeballs on the way over. “But she’s probably not too happy about being called a monster.”

Burnet sharply gasped. “You don’t mean-”

“I’m off to look for her,” Moon said, climbing onto the window sill. “Call Kukui and explain the situation. I’ll let you know when I find her.” Moon jumped out the window and ran off towards Iki Town.


	7. Chapter 7

It didn’t take long for Moon to notice something was off. As she walked through the Melemele Meadow, she noticed a clear path where the grass had been flattened. Pokemon were hiding in the glass, clinging to each-other and quivering in fear. 

Chisana, who had been sitting on Moon’s shoulder, jumped down and approached one terrified Lillipup, asking it something. She bolted back over to Moon and jumped onto her back, pointing towards the north. Moon nodded and ran off towards the Ruins of Conflict.

 

It had been a long time since Moon had come to the Ruins of Conflict, although she used to visit often when Lillie was in Kanto. She would often just stand on the bridge and look out to the sea, sometimes with Nebby floating beside her or playing with the Spearow that had terrified them so much when they first met. It had always made Moon proud to see how much Nebby had grown. 

How much everyone had grown.

But now, all Moon felt was fear.

She could see Lillie’s figure crouched on all fours in front of the entrance of the Ruins of Conflict. Her eyes and the streaks in her hair shone gold, tentacles waving threateningly.

Moon slowly stepped forward, willing the bridge not to creak and give her away. As she got closer, she got a slower look at what Lillie was crouched over.

A broken, bloody Spearow.

Moon ran forward in a panic. She stepped into the long grass, letting out a telltale rustle and alerting Lillie to her presence. The figure turned, forgoing her snack in favour of a larger threat.

“Oops.”

Lillie grinned maliciously when she saw who had disturbed her meal, standing up and rushing over to Moon. Moon never got a chance to dodge and soon found herself trapped, Lillie pinning her against a wall. 

Moon could feel her heart beat faster as the gravity of the situation settled in, as she realised that Lillie could kill her at any moment. Her breathing sped up as she desperately thrashed around, trying to escape Lillie’s grasp. Tears formed in her eyes and she all she could think was that she needed to escape, to survive.

“STOP! PLEASE!!” she cried desperately as Lillie held her down with her tentacles, wrapped her hands around Moon’s neck. Moon found that she could no longer breathe, and fell into an even more desperate panic. “P-please, stop you have to stop stop STOP LILLIE PLEASE STOP!!”

Spots danced in Moon’s vision and her lungs ached, and she realised that screaming was useless. The monster wasn’t going to release her, no matter how much she begged, because it didn’t care. Lillie couldn’t hear her. Lillie wasn’t there.

Lillie was gone.

Moon closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

Just as she started slipping into unconsciousness, the sound of a siren echoed through the canyon as blue and red lights flooded the area. Lillie hissed and released Moon, climbing up on top of the Ruins and bolting away while Moon fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.

“Damn...”

A police squad ran past, searching for something. One of them pointed towards the entrance of the Ruins, and most of them headed inside. A few stayed near the rocks, analysing them. One policeman glanced in Moon’s direction and gasped, running over to her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, offering her a hand.

“Y-yeah...” Moon said, pushing his hand away and standing up on her own. “I’m fine.”

“What happened? Did you see the monster? Where did it go?”

“U-uh...”

“Keiji, what did I tell you about bombarding people with questions?” 

Officer Keiji turned towards the entrance of the bridge, giving his superior a loyal salute. “My apologies, Lieutenant!”

The older officer sighed. “I told you, you don’t have to salute every time you see me.”

“My apologies, sir...”

The lieutenant sighed in annoyance, clutching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath. He turned to Moon, a clearly forced smile on his face.

“You’re the Alola Champion, right?” he asked. 

Moon nodded. “What’s going on here?”

“We received reports of a strange figure headed in this direction.” he explained. “It has been seen attacking Wild Pokemon of all types and is our main suspect for the recent attacks. Do you have any idea where it might have gone?”

Moon looked away. “No. I haven’t seen anything,” she lied. “I can help look though.”

The policeman nodded. “That would be best.”

Moon put her hands in her pockets and walked away, making it clear that she wasn’t in the mood to talk. Walking along the bridge the muttered angrily to herself.

“Where do they get off calling her a monster, huh? What do they know anyway, I mean yeah she tried to kill me but...” Moon came to a stop in the middle of the bridge. “She...tried to kill me...oh Arceus...”

Moon sat down and took out a Pokeball, releasing Nebby. Nebby stared at her for a few seconds, confused as to why she was sad, before settling down next to her and wrapping a wing around her comfortingly. 

“What do I do Nebby? I know Lillie can’t help all this but...” she put her head in her hands. “I’m scared.”

Nebby rubbed her back and whined comfortingly. 

“This isn’t like Pokemon battles, I could’ve died. Hell, if the police hadn’t showed up, I probably would’ve died.”

Another supportive whine.

“I-I still want to help her, but I’m terrified. And I feel bad for being scared because if Lillie knew, it would break her heart...” Moon put a hand to her throat, which still hurt. “Oh Arceus, what if she HAD killed me...it would destroy her...she-she hurt all those people, including Hau and...oh Arceus, I just. I don’t know what to do.”

Nebby wrapped their other wing around Moon, pulling her close and hugged her, nuzzling the top of her head as she silently cried.


	8. Chapter 8

Moon had only just drifted off to sleep in Nebby’s wings when her phone starting ringing, startling her out of her slumber.

She rubbed her eyes and pulled away from Nebby, standing up and taking out the phone, holding it to her ear.

“Hello?”

 _“Moon, I figured out what the poison is!”_ Kukui replied urgently,

“You did? What is it?”

 _“Actually, it was Wicke who figured it out,”_ Kukui explained. A rustling was heard in the background as the professor put on his lab coat. _“They recently discovered that there a subspecies of the Ultra Beast known as Nihilego.”_ A creak and the sound of waves indicated that Kukui had opened the front door of his house and was running along the beach. “ _Physically, it looks no different than the regular Nihilego, but it’s poison has a much different affect on people.”_

“I should’ve known...”

_“Luckily, only a small amount of poison can be administered at a time. The poison rapidly expands and grows, but usually it’s strong enough for the immune system to fight. Unfortunately, being raised in a place as sterile as the Aether Foundation has left Lillie with a weak immune system, so her body was unable to fight it.”_

“What if someone ends up with a lot of the poison entering their system at once?”

_“I would probably make them really sick, maybe even putting them into a coma!”_

“Damn...” Moon glanced over at Nebby, who was watching her with a concerned expression. “Is there a cure?”

“ _Not yet, but Wicke says that she has all her scientists working on finding one right now.”_

“Right...I’ll call you later.”

 _“Wait, Moon-”_ But she had already hung up.

 

 

Holding on to Nebby’s back, Moon looking around at the land below her, searching for a sign that Lillie had been there, something, anything. She was still scared, but she couldn’t afford to let anyone else get hurt.

Lillie would never forgive herself.

Besides, in order to cure Lillie, they’d have to catch her first. Better to get it done instead of wait around for people to get hurt.

Nebby crooned, and Moon turned to look at them. “What is it?”

They responded by tilting their head towards an area to the left.

Moon followed their gaze. “Oh no...”

 

 

Littens were known for being stubborn. They weren’t going to put up with anything, and any attempt to do anything they didn’t like was going to be responded to via a flaming hairball to the face.

But right now, this particular Litten found herself with nowhere to go.

She backed away, surrounding herself with a barrier of flames, hoping to keep out the attacker. It didn’t deter the creature though, as it walked through the flames as if they were nothing. Backing away, Litten hissed at the strange, blood-soaked creature standing in front of her. The injured Rowlet behind her begged Litten to run, but she refused, standing strong against the opponent despite knowing it was futile.

The figure lifted a tentacle and pointed it at the Fire Cat Pokemon. She striked, but before it could make contact, another Pokemon leapt out, taking the hit. The creature lifted it’s tentacle into the light, staring sadistically at the poor creature who had been impaled by the tentacle.

Then it’s head ripped off.

The Pokemon, which Litten now recognised as a Mimikyu, ran off into the bush, not wanting to be seen with half of it’s costume missing. The creature moved to chase after it when it heart the telltale sound of a Pokeball opening.

“Nebby, use Moongeist Beam!”

Lillie leapt out of the way at the last second, covering her eyes and hissing at the light. Moon ran over to Litten and Rowlet, offering them both a potion and telling them how to get to the nearest Pokemon Centre while Nebby kept Lillie busy.

The Moone Pokemon spread their wings and swooped towards Lillie. The creature leapt out of the way and swung a tentacle at Nebby, who pulled up just in time. Nebby swooped forward again, and Lillie dodged, thinking they were stupid for trying the same thing twice.

She didn’t notice them come back around and swoop at her from behind.

Lillie was knocked to the ground. She tried to stand up, but was stopped by a Shadow Claw from the bushes, where Moon’s Mimikyu - now wearing a blanket on top of her Pikachu costume in order to avoid being seen - leapt out in front of her. Lillie fell backwards onto the ground, and Nebby settled down behind her, preparing for a final Moongeist Beam. Lillie turned around to Nebby and, for a second, genuine fear flashed in her eyes

      ~~_-I don’t want to die-_~~

Nebby hesitated, lowering their wings.

Big mistake.

Lillie smirked, taking the opportunity to tackle Nebby to the ground. Nebby found themselves unable to move as Lillie used her tentacles to pin their wings to the grassy terrain. She raised one tentacle, and was about to strike when Nebby disappeared, back into their Pokeball.

Lillie looked up at Moon who was now pocketing Nebby’s Pokeball. She growled at her, but Moon didn’t react.

This confused Lillie. This person, despite acting tough, was terrified of her, so why was she now standing strong, determined to oppose her? Did she no longer care about her fate? Was she asking for death?

Because if she was, Lillie was happy to grant that wish.

Lillie bolted forward, ready to tackle Moon to the ground, but Moon had learned not to let that happen. She grabbed Lillie’s hands and pushed against her. Lillie was surprised by this at first, but pushed back with as much strength as she could muster. Moon dug her feet into the ground as she was slowly pushed back, but refused to let Lillie beat her.

“L-Lillie...please!” she begged. “Stop...doing...this!”

Lillie simply glared at her, baring her fangs and growling softly.

“This...this isn’t like you!” Moon shouted. “You’d never hurt anyone! You...you don’t want to hurt me!” Moon gasped as she was pushed into the wall behind her, the rocks digging into her back. “LILLIE, PLEASE!! SNAP OUT OF IT!”

Lillie raised two of her tentacles, aiming them both at Moon’s chest. She wasn’t going to let Moon get away again.

“LILLIE YOU NEED TO STOP! I NEED YOU TO-” Lillie grasped Moon’s still sore neck, forcing her to stop yelling in order to try and breathe. “L-lillie please...I...” Moon blinked back tears. “I need you...”

Lillie’s grip on Moon’s neck loosened, and she found it easier to breathe. Moon grinned, knowing that she was finally reaching her. “Lillie, I need you to snap out of it,” she said, smiling at the creature. “And, I know that you might be angry right now, but I only want to help you. Because I...I really care about you...” For a second, Moon thought she saw Lillie’s eyes flicker to green. “I know how to help you, if you’ll just let me...we can fix this...please, stop hurting people...”

Lillie stepped back, releasing Moon in the process.

She held her head as her eyes flickered between gold and green. Her fingers twitched, and her face was contorted in pain as she struggled in an internal battle against herself.

Moon wished she could do something to help, she didn’t know how.  

Suddenly, a dart flew into Lillie’s neck. She froze, and her eyes slowly closed as she collapsed on the floor.

“Lillie!”

“STEP AWAY FROM THE MONSTER.”

Moon turned to the voice and saw a seperate police squad standing outside the tall grass, one of which holding a megaphone. The one holding the megaphone turned to the officer beside him, giving her an order. She turned and relayed this order to a few other officers, and the 3 of them stepped out into the grass and approached Lillie.

Moon jumped out in front of her. “Don’t touch her!”

One of the officers glared at Moon distastefully. “Why do you defend it? This is a creature who has attacked and hospitalised nearly 50 people, and you defend it?” he shook his head. “I knew it was a mistake to make someone so young the Champion of Alola.”

“She’s not a monster! And she didn’t mean it!”

“Look at that thing kid! It’s a freak, a monstrosity! It deserves to be killed right here and now!”

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER-”

“Officer Satoshi, stand down!”

The officer turned back towards the police car, where Looker had just gotten out and was giving him a fierce glare.

Satoshi clenched his teeth and glared. “You’re not my boss.”

“Actually, for this mission, I am your boss,” Looker corrected.

He walked over to Moon who still stood defensively over Lillie. “S-stay away from her-”

“Easy, I’m not going to hurt her,” the Interpol officer put a hand on Moon’s shoulder. “May I ask why you’re defending her so fiercely?"

Moon lowered her gaze. “It’s not easy to explain...”

Looker put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. “How this - we'll take her back to the Professor’s place, see what he thinks we should do about all this?”

Moon nodded - in fact, it was what she had planned to do all along. “Yeah, good idea...”


	9. Chapter 9

Moon found that she had been doing a lot of waiting as of late. Once again, she sat on one of Kukui’s couches, tapping the arm of the chair impatiently. Kukui, Burnet, and Looker were all downstairs with Lillie, and they wouldn’t let Moon join them - something that Moon wasn’t too happy about.

She heard footsteps and turned to a staircase to see a tired Kukui climbing up the stairs. For once, he was dressed in proper lab attire - complete with boots, googles, gloves, he even closed his lab coat.

“Hey Moon, I got a call from Hala. Hau’s awake,” he said.

Moon grinned. “Finally, some good news.”

“Don’t you wanna go see him?” Kukui asked.

“Well yeah, but...” Moon put her hands in her pockets and looked away. “I don’t wanna leave Lillie here...”

Kukui sighed. “I thought so...” he walked over to Moon and put his hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Go see Hau. You can come back later, Lillie will be fine.”

Moon spent a moment thinking it over. She didn’t want to leave in case something happened, but it would be good to see Hau again. Maybe he’d even be able to give her some advice about the situation. Plus, it would probably hurt his feelings if she didn’t visit...

Moon sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” She stood up and walked over to the door, grasping the door knob.

“D’ya want me to call over a Tauros for you?”

“Nah, I’d rather walk.”

Kukui nodded. “Alright, then. Stay safe, cousin,” he said, waving and walking down stairs.

 

 

Moon opened the door and stepped outside, the sand sinking slightly beneath her feet. It was still early, and the sun had only started to rise, so the beach was completely empty. The only sounds were the rushing waves and they occasional cry of a Pokemon. The air was fresh and slightly chilly, but Moon knew it would warm up later in the day. Moon took a deep breath and walked towards Hau’oli city, leaving footprints in the sand. She closed her eyes and reflected on what had happened the past few days.

“All I wanted was to spend some time hanging out with my friends...”

A few hours ago, Looker had accompanied Moon as she carried Lillie back to Moon’s place - he offered to carry her, but Moon didn’t want to let anyone else near her. Burnet answered the door and called Kukui over, who then proceeded to take Lillie back to his lab. Moon’s managed to let her mother convince her to go with them, though it took a lot of persuading. The professors took her down stairs, leaving Moon to wait on the couch.

When Moon opened her eyes again, she found herself near the Pokemon Centre.

“I wonder if that Litten is alright..?”

After a moment of thinking, Moon decided to go inside. The centre was mostly empty, with only a single backpacker and his Geodude sitting outside the cafe with a Tapu Cocoa, talking to the coffee guy. Nurse Joy gave Moon a smile, giving her the usual ‘Welcome!’ as she stepped inside. There was only one working at the Pokemart, who was currently leaning against the counter scrolling through his phone.

“How can I help you?” asked Nurse Joy as Moon approached the counter.

“Hey uh, did a Litten and Rowlet come in here last night?” she asked.

“Yes, they did,” Joy nodded sadly. “The Litten was nursed back to full health, but I’m afraid the Rowlet fell unconscious and won’t wake up. Litten hasn’t left it’s side.”

“I thought that might happen...” Moon muttered. “Can I go see them?”

Joy nodded. “Follow me,” she said, opening a door behind the counter. Moon hopped over there counter (to Joy’s annoyance) and followed.

 

 

Litten’s ear twitched when she heard the door open, but didn’t take her eyes off the Rowlet in front of her as she sat on a chair by his bed.

“How is he?”

Litten turned to see the girl who had saved her earlier standing by the door, concerned. She looked down sadly and turned back to the Grass Quill Pokemon lying on the bed, who was practically entirely covered in bandages with only it’s face and legs sticking out. If the situation wasn’t quite as dire, it would actually be quite comical.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Moon said, putting a hand on Litten’s back and petting her slowly. “He’ll be fine.”

Litten gave her a sideways glance, but looked away. She didn’t believe her.

Moon sighed. “I know how you feel. My friend was attacked the same way that Rowlet was, but he’s getting better now!”

 _Although, Hau is a lot larger than a Rowlet, so it probably didn’t hurt him as much,_ Moon thought, but she didn’t say anything about it. Regardless, Litten gave her a hopeful smile and a quiet meow, and for Moon, that was enough. Moon sat down on a chair next to Litten’s, continuing to stroke her back. “Y’know, you remind me of when my Incineroar was still a Litten...


	10. Chapter 10

A couple hours later, Moon found herself leaving the Pokemon Centre feeling much better than when she entered. Litten had followed her out, and was now standing next to Nurse Joy and waving her goodbye. Moon smiled and gave her a small wave back, before turning around and following the road into Hau’oli.

The sun was now up, and the streets were bustling with people. A boat pulled up at the Marina, tourists and Alolans alike deboarding. In the tall grass, Moon could see the tail of a Pichu, running through the grass chasing after an Alolan Meowth. It reminded Moon of when she caught Chisana, before she evolved into a Pikachu.

Moon made it to the hospital, and had placed her hand on the glass door, about to step in, when she hesitated. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She pushed the door open, stepping inside.

Unlike the loud, welcoming feeling that one would get from walking through Hau’oli City, the hospital was sterile and calm. The scent of berries and malasadas was replaced with the smell of disinfectant. The constant, bubbling chatter of the crowd had been replaced with an overwhelming silence.

Amazing how quickly the atmosphere changed.

Moon stuck her hands in her pockets, fiddling with the fabric as she approached the counter. She was about to ask where Hau was staying when the receptionist beat her too it. “You are Moon, Champion of Alola, correct?” she asked, icy blue eyes staring at her through red and black glasses.

Moon gulped under her piercing gaze. “Yeah, t-that’s me...”

The receptionist looked down at a sheet of paper in her hand for a second, before turning back to Moon with a small, kind smile. “Your friend has been asking about you. He’s in room 110 in section 37.”

Moon nodded sharply. “Right, thank you!”

"No problem,” the woman said, gazing back to her papers, the smile wiped from her face.

 

 

“Moon, there you are!” shouted Hala as she stepped through the door, holding his arms wide for a welcoming hug. Moon grinned and stepped forward, letting him hug her - though not for any longer than a few seconds, for fear he would crush her. Hala’s hugs were practically as stronger as a Bewear’s - something Moon learned the hard way.

“Sorry, I was kinda busy. I came as soon as I could,” she directed her gaze towards Hau, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

His hair was down, going just below his shoulders, greasy from lack of cleaning. His usually bright forest green eyes had become dull, and had bags underneath them. There were wires and machines of all kinds hooked up to his arms, and he had grown thinner. But he gave her a huge smile nonetheless. “Moon! Good to see you again!”

Moon grinned, letting out a sigh of relief as she jogged over to him. “Same to you.”

Hau lifted his right hand for their best friend handshake, and after a moment of hesitation, Moon returned the handshake - though she was a lot slower and more gentle than usual, not wanting to hurt him.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Moon said. “I was worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Come on, y’know me better than that!” Hau replied, placing his hands behind his head. “I’m gonna be a Kahuna, remember?”

Same old Hau.

Hau stopped smiling and blinked, lowering his arms. “Hey, where’s Lillie? I thought she was gonna be with you.”

Moon put one hand in her jacket pocket, scratching the back of her head with the other, refusing to meet Hau’s gaze. “Yeah...the thing is...”

“Oh no, did she get attacked too?”

“No, it’s not that...”

Moon wasn’t sure if she wanted to explain the situation to Hau. She didn’t want to upset him or stress him out, especially while he was still fairly unstable. But if she didn’t tell him, she wouldn’t be able to escape the guilt.

So she told him everything.

How Lillie’s sickness kept getting worse. How she was attacked one night. How she found out that the one causing all this pain was Lillie the whole time, and the poor girl didn’t even know it.

“Man...Poor Lillie,” Hau murmured, looking down at his hands sadly.

“P-poor Lillie...” Moon stared at Hau in confusion. She clenched her teeth and her look of confusion turned into one of anger. “POOR _LILLIE_?? WHAT ABOUT YOU?? WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE AND POKEMON THAT SHE HURT!!?”

“M-Moon-”

“LOOK AT YOU HAU!! LOOK HOW MUCH SHE HURT YOU, WHAT SHE HAS REDUCED YOU TOO!! AND THAT’S NOT EVEN THE START OF IT - SO MANY PEOPLE AND POKEMON WERE HURT BY HER, MAYBE EVEN KILLED, AND NONE OF THEM HAVE WOKEN UP YET APART FROM YOU. AND YOU’RE TRYING TO TELL ME THAT _LILLIE_ IS THE VICTIM IN ALL THIS???”

“Moon, calm down!”

“HOW ABOUT MAYBE YOU CALM DOWN”

“Alright, alright, enough,” Hala put a firm hand on Moon’s shoulder. “There’s no use arguing about it.”

Moon closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to try and slow herself down. She counted in her head - breath in...1...2...3...hold it...breath out. And repeat. Moon felt herself calm down. She didn’t think she’d ever need to use that method, but she was glad Lillie taught it to her anyway.

Lillie taught it to her...

Right...and that’s not all Lillie had done for her either. Lillie had stayed by Moon’s side for the entire Island Challenge, had always been there for her when she was down. When she was in Kanto, she would send letters at least once a week telling Moon about her adventure, with photos of her Pokemon and some of her favourite locations. Even with all her flaws and quirks, Lillie still stayed by Moon’s side, never even thinking of abandoning her.

Moon clenched her fists and lowered her face. She’d been so angry that she’d blamed Lillie for all this, when it wasn’t actually her fault. It was never her fault. Lillie would never want to hurt anyone. Lillie didn’t deserve to be blamed for all this. Moon closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to cry in front of Hala and Hau.

Hau could tell Moon was beating herself up, and he put a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Hey. Don’t worry about it,” he said, smiling calmly at her. “I’m sure Lillie will forgive you.”

Moon looked away. “I’m not sure if she’s ever even gonna be back to normal, and I still blamed her. You really think she’ll forgive me for that?”

“Of course she will!” Hau reassured her, grinning widely. “Lillie lov- I mean, cares a whole lot about you! She couldn’t be angry at you if she tried!”

“Yeah...wait, what was that in middle there-” Moon was interrupted by the door opening, a doctor walking inside.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ll have to leave for a while - we are about to give Hau a full examination and require privacy,” he said. “If you wish, you can sit in the waiting room until we’re finished.”

“Sure thing,” said Hala. He turned to Moon. “You gonna stay?”

Moon shook her head. “I should go check up on Lillie,” she said. “I mean, I’d love to stay, but-”

Hala chuckled. “Don’t worry, we understand.” Hau nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for understanding,” Moon said as she turned to the door and exited the room, waving on her way out.


	11. Chapter 11

When Moon arrived back at Kukui’s house, he had moved to the main room, holding two beakers full of black poison. He wrapped one up in a cloth and gave it to a Kadabra, whispering something to it. The Kadabra nodded and teleported away.

“What’s going on?” Moon asked.

“Ah, Moon!” Kukui stood up and smiled at her. “You’re back!”

Moon walked over to him. “Yeah, sorry it took so long. What exactly are you doing?”

“We’ve taken some of the poison out of Lillie’s system for analysis.” Kukui explained, pouring the mixture into another beaker, which was connected to various other glass containers holding a variety of chemicals. “I also just sent a Kadabra to deliver a vial to Aether Foundation. Hopefully this will help us find a cure.”

“Why not just take it all out of her blood? Wouldn’t that fix the problem faster?”

“We thought of that, but the problem is that the poison didn’t just insert itself into her system.” Kukui said as he put on a pair of safety goggles. “When she was initially poisoned, it must’ve been delivered directly into her bloodstream. The poison infected her blood, meaning that it would be impossible for us to remove the poison without also removing a dangerous amount of blood.”

“Oh...” Moon watched as Kukui lifted up the beaker with the poison, tipping it slowly into a neon green mixture, causing a small puff of smoke to float out of the container with a ‘poof’.

“Lillie’s upstairs on the sofa bed,” Kukui said, lifting the mixture to his eyes in order to see it better. “You can go sit with her if you want.”

“Yeah, OK,” Moon replied with a nod, walking over to the ladder to the loft.

As she climbed it, Kukui’s Murkrow flew over to her. She stopped and ruffled the feather’s on it’s head like she knew it liked, giving it a small smile.

Her Pokemon always managed to cheer her up.

As she stepped off the ladder and walked to Lillie’s bed, she noticed just how weak the other girl had become.

Her appearance had gone back to normal - mostly likely due to some of the poison being removed - but her skin was a lot paler and hair messy. She had bags under her closed eyes and she breathed heavily and slowly, chest only moving slightly with each breath.

Moon closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists, not wanting to look at her. Lillie had always been so strong, but now she looked as fragile as the flower she was named after.

And it broke Moon’s heart.

Moon walked over in front of the sofa bed and sat down on the floor, crossing her legs and taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and looked back at Lillie. Moon lifted a hand, placing it on Lillie’s cheek. She was cold. Moon bit her lip, holding back tears and she took one of Lillie’s hands, holding it in both of her own.

“I’m sorry, Lillie...” she whispered, eyes burning as she let the silent tears fall, dropping onto her hand. She lifted Lillie’s hand to her face, holding it tightly as if it could fade away at any moment. Murkrow settled down on Moon’s shoulder, nuzzling her face comfortingly. It did little to dry Moon’s tears as she let out all the feelings she had been holding back. Eventually, Moon pulled Lillie’s hand away from her face. She held onto it with one hand, removing the other in order to place it on her forehead. Moon hesitated for a moment, before pushing Lillie’s hair off her forehead and lightly kissing it.

 

 

She stayed like that for hours - sitting by Lillie’s side, Murkrow perched on her shoulder, holding Lillie’s hand. She wanted to stay the night, but Moon’s mother had insisted on Moon coming home. She had tried to argue, but the older woman was having none of it.

 _“With everything that’s happened, you haven’t spent a single peaceful night at home! You need some time to relax!”_ she had said.

“Yeah right...like I could relax at a time like this.”

Regardless, Moon soon found herself waving goodbye to Kukui, Burnet and Murkrow as she headed home at the end of the day.

“Call me if anything happens.”

“Of course!” Kukui grinned. “Don’t worry, I think I might be onto something! Lillie’ll be fine soon enough!”

Moon smiled. “If you say so.”

She walked away with a wave, heading towards her house where her mother had promised to cook her favourite food for dinner.


	12. Chapter 12

Moon wasn’t very hungry.

She sat with her elbow on the table, holding her hand with one hand and poking at her food with the other. Despite the gaping emptiness in her stomach, she just couldn’t bring herself to eat anything. There was just too much on her mind.

Moon’s mother noticed this, and tried to distract her daughter. “So, um...see any new Pokemon lately?” she asked.

“Nope.”

Moon blinked at the blunt response. “W-well, uh...make any new friends?”

“Nope...actually, there was that Litten than I saved...from...Lillie...” Moon replied, voice getting quieter with every syllable. 

“O-oh...” Moon’s mother said awkwardly. “Well, um-”

“It’s fine Mum,” Moon said. “You don’t have to cheer me up.”

She sounded so tired. So sad. So hopeless. And it broke her mother’s heart.

The older woman stood up and walked over to Moon, hugging her from behind. 

“I’m your mother,” she murmured. “I hate to see you like this...”

“Sorry.”

Moon’s mother sighed, reluctantly letting go of Moon. Nothing she did seemed to lift her spirit. 

“Seriously, I’m fine Mum,” Moon said, turning to give her mother a sad smile. “I’ll be fine, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“But-”

“I’ll be alright...besides,” Moon turned back to her food. “Lillie wouldn’t to see me so sad because of her.”

The older woman felt her heart shatter into pieces, tears forming in her eyes as she scooped her daughter into a tight hug. For a few moments, Moon didn’t react. Then she slowly put her arms around her mother and snuggled into her embrace.

 

After dinner, Moon went straight up to her room. It wasn’t exactly intact, but it was the only place in the house where she could have some privacy and time to herself. She sat on her bed and leant against the wall, thinking to herself. Kakusu, still wearing the blanket, was working on repairing her Pikachu costume while Kurone watched.

“Kurone.”

The Incineroar turned to his trainer questioningly.

“Am I a good person?”

Kurone nodded, growling in confirmation. He stood up and sat next to his trainer, putting an arm around her. She turned to him and he nodded, inviting her to tell him what was bothering her.

Moon sighed, looking back over at Kakusu, who had just realised that she was attaching the costumes head inside out. She frantically worked to undo the seams on the outfit and fix it, Moon chuckling at her antics.

Moon took a deep breath, looking back up at Kurone. It was strange how much he had grown.

She remembered one of the first battles they had together. The were battling a wild Pikipek, who, despite being at a rather low level, was determined not to be defeated. Upon seeing the Woodpecker Pokemon, Kurone had backed up, and leapt into Moon’s arms. As it turned out, the poor Litten was actually rather scared of bird Pokemon.

The Pikipek felt bad for scaring the Fire Cat Pokemon, and flew over to sit on Moon’s shoulder and try to comfort him. Kurone tried to pull away, but Moon held on to him, not letting him go. The Pikipek leant over to him and nuzzled his face comfortingly and reassured him that he would be OK. 

After a while, Kurone warmed up to the Pikipek, and soon enough they were playing together in the fields. Moon ended up catching the Pokemon and naming her Tsubasa, who had since evolved into a Toucannon.

Now, instead of comforting Kurone, he was comforting her instead. 

Moon leaned on Kurone’s side, pressing the side of her face against his soft fur as he rubbed her arm comfortingly.

“Why am I so much more worried about Lillie than I was worried about Hau?” she asked herself. Kurone grunted, prompting her to elaborate. 

“When Hau got hurt, I mean yeah I was really worried about him, but when Lillie got hurt...” She clenched her fist, grasping at Kurone’s fur. “It was so much worse...why is that?” Moon’s eyes burned as she held back tears. “Do I just not care about Hau as much as I thought I did?”

Kurone put a paw on his chin, thinking. Kakusu, who had just put on her newly fixed Pikachu costume, hopped up into Moon’s lap and snuggled against her. Moon smiled and put a hand on her costume’s head, stroking it.

Kurone watched, gears in his head turning. He thought about Lillie and Hau and how Moon acted around them. Moon acted different with the blonde girl than she did with her best friend - around Hau, she was more energetic and loud, Hau’s personality melding well with hers. Around Lillie, she was calmer, quieter, and more...affectionate.

Kurone grunted as he came to a realisation. Moon looked at him questioningly. “What is it?”

Kurone thought for a bit about how to communicate his thoughts to his trainer. After a moment of consideration, he put a paw on Moon’s chest.

“I...have a problem with my lungs?”

Kurone sighed and shook his head.

“My...heart?”

He nodded.

“What about my heart?”

Kurone resisted the urge to facepalm. Moon could be pretty smart sometimes, but she was also really dense. 

He pointed at Moon.

“Me?”

He made a heart shape with his hands.

“Heart...”

He pointed at a photo of Lillie.

“Lillie...Me heart Lillie?” Moon raised an eyebrow. “OH, I love Lillie!”

Kurone nodded.

“W-WAIT NO I DON’T”

Kurone laughed at the way his trainer’s face had instantly turned as red as his fur.

“S-stop laughing at me!” Moon cleared her throat and turned away awkwardly. “C-come on, I don’t love Lillie, why the hell would you think that?”

Kurone raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look,” Moon deadpanned. She turned to Kakusu. “Come on, you agree with me right?”

Kakusu shook her head - somehow.

Moon sighed in exasperation. “OK so maybe I love her a little bit...”

Kurone grinned smugly, prompting Moon to glare at him.

“So...you’re saying that that’s why she affected me more than Hau?”

Kurone nodded.

“I...guess that makes sense...” Moon replied, staring a spot on the carpet. Kurone could tell that it was still bothering her, and, not really knowing what else to do, wrapped an arm around her shoulder for a half hug. 

“Thank you, Kurone.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last update - some personal stuff happened and then I got sick so I haven't been able to write much. I'm trying to get back into the swing of it now.

A few days passed, and not much had changed.

Moon spent most of her time with Hau at the hospital. His condition hadn’t improved much. He was stable (for now at least) but he didn’t seem to be healing at all. The doctor insisted that he was fine, that he was just healing slowly due to the poison’s influence, but Moon didn’t believe them. Still, just hanging out with her best friend made her feel better. Hau could tell she was bothered by whole situation, and would make jokes and play games with her in a attempts to cheer her up.

Usually, if she wasn’t with Hau, she’d be with Lillie. The girl had been moved from the sofa to a stabilising tube in the lower part of Kukui’s lab in order to prevent her from turning back into the Nihilego creature. Moon would sit there for hours, watching the girl float inside the tube, almost as if she was levitating. Moon would put her hand on the glass and talk to her. She’d tell her about Nebby, or what she had for breakfast, anything. She thought that maybe it might help her recover faster.

Kukui didn’t sleep. He would spend hours on end mixing all sorts of chemicals and mixtures, insisting that he was onto something, that he could have a breakthrough at any moment, but it was clear that he was lying.

Whether he was lying to her or himself, Moon couldn’t tell. Regardless, she was sick of everyone lying to her to make her feel better.

Moon often got calls. Some from her mother, checking how she was feeling. Some were from Hau, asking how she was or telling her about some game or TV show he found. Some were from the Pokemon League, telling her that there were multiple trainers wanting to battle her.

She ignored those calls.

Rumours started to spread. Some people thought that Moon had finally been defeated and replaced as Champion of Alola, others thought she had simply abandoned her postion. A few people suggested that the trainer had been killed, but their claims were quickly disputed.

Sometimes she’d go for a walk. Usually at Wela Volcano Park - there weren’t many people there, especially during the hot season, so it gave her some piece and quiet. She would simply walk, sometimes with a Pokemon by her side, just watching as Salandit scampered past and Talonflames soared overhead.

Kiawe met her one day at the volcano’s peak, having heard that Moon had been ignoring her duties at the Pokemon League as the Champion of Alola. He had fully intended on lecturing her for her ignorance, but upon seeing the girl’s hopeless expression, he instead sat down and talked to her for a while.

“She’ll be fine,” he had said. “Lillie’s tough, she can handle this.”

Moon had heard that so many times, they were nothing but empty words to her.

She didn’t spend much time at home anymore. She would get up early, have breakfast, and leave, coming home late for dinner and going straight to bed. Her window had been fixed at one point while she was out, but she barely noticed. Some nights she would lie awake in bed, thinking. Sometimes she would simply stare at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the pouring rain.

Her mother was concerned, but Moon refused to talk to her beyond a simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In fact, the only ones she would talk to were Hau and her Pokemon. Any attempt to approach her would be responded too with silence or a bitter glare.

 

 

A week after discovering what happened to Lillie, Moon found herself sitting alone on Hau’oli beach, Shinku sleeping at her side as she petted him absentmindedly. Some people tried to approach her, wanting an autograph or to ask her why she had been ignoring her duties as Champion. She would give them an angry glance, before looking away, proceeding to ignore any attempt to interact with her.

She stared at the water, the way the waves would periodically rise and fall as Wingull flew overheard, occasionally swooping and scooping up a wild Magikarp or Wishiwashi to bring back to it’s nest.

Moon’s thoughts were interrupted by the familiar ringing of her phone. She picked it up, intending to turn it off, but stopped when she saw who it was from. She tapped the ‘answer’ button and held the device to her ear.

“Kukui, what’s up? You find something?”

_“No, no, it’s much worse!”_

His alarmed tone worried Moon. Shinku opened an eye, curious as to why she had stopped petting her. “Why, what happened?”

_“It’s Lillie, she’s gone!”_


	14. Chapter 14

When Moon, burst through the door to Kukui’s lab, she wasn’t sure what she had been expecting. What she wasn’t expecting however, was to see the lab as a completely mess.

Papers were scattered across the floor, along with various devices and scientific equipment. Some of the vials that Kukui had set up had been knocked down, some of them smashed, chemicals dripping out onto the floor. The ladder to the loft was hanging by a single screw, swinging slightly as Murkrow stood on one of the rungs, confused as to why it was moving. Kukui was over by the water tank, strapping tape over a large crack as water leaked out onto the floor under his feet.

Moon rushed downstairs to the tube where Lillie had been kept, only to find it in pieces. Glass covered the floor as blue liquid flowed from the gaping whole in the tube. Wires had been disconnected, laying discarded on the ground. Many of the computers had gone dark or displayed an error message of some kind. 

The tube was empty.

For a moment, she just stood there, shocked. Of all the times for this to happen, why now? She heard a soft thud and whipped around, fists raised, only to see that it was only Kukui knocking kicking a book that had been left on the floor as he descended down the stairs.

“What happened?” Moon muttered, staring at the floor.

“I don’t know,” Kukui replied in a similar tone. “I left to grab some potions from the Pokemon Centre and when I came back...”

Moon clenched her fists. “You mean you left her here alone..?” Moon looked up slightly, glaring at the professor. “Why would you do that?”

“W-well, I, uh-”

“DAMMIT!” Moon slammed a fist against the wall, leaving a small crater. “I shouldn’t have left her here...”

“Hey, come on cousin...” Kukui said quietly, placing a hand on Moon’s shaking shoulder. “This isn’t your fault. I’m sure Lillie will be fine-”

“And what if she’s not!?!” Moon snapped, pulling away from the man and stepping back, slipping on a shard of glass and falling onto her back with a grunt. Kukui leant down to help her up, but she slapped his hand away. 

“Everyone keeps saying that she’ll be fine, but what if she’s not? What if we never find her?” Moon stumbled to her face, leaning against the wall. “And if we do find her, what then? What if she never wakes up? What if...” Tears welled in her eyes. “What if she...” Moon squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth, unable to finish her sentence.

Her eyes snapped open as a strong pair of arms wrapped around the girl. She didn’t pull away, grasping at Kukui’s lab coat and burying her face in the soft fabric. Her body shook as she sobbed, leaving a wet stain on the white coat. Kukui lowered Moon to the floor as her legs gave out underneath her, her exhaustion finally catching up to her. For a long time, she cried in his arms, finding that she lacked the energy do to anything else.

Suddenly, Moon felt a firm paw tapping her leg. She pulled away and looked at Kukui’s Rockruff, who barked at her urgently before running over to the tube. He sniffed it, then looked back at Moon and barked again.

Moon stumbled to her feet and walked over to crouch at Rockruff’s side. “What is it?”

Rockruff walked to the side of the tube, near the opening where the glass had been shattered. When Moon looked closer, she noticed a ripped piece of lime green fabric among the shards. She picked it up, running a finger across it, analysing it’s texture. When he nudged her, she let Rockruff have a sniff as well. The Puppy Pokemon turned and sniffed the ground, following an invisible trail up the stairs to a broken window on the main floor.

“Did they go that way?” Moon asked. Rockruff nodded. 

“What are you thinking?” Kukui asked, astounded at how quickly the girl could go from crying in his arms to standing strong, determination shining in her eyes.

“I’m gonna find Lillie.”


	15. Chapter 15

Rockruff ran ahead, only stopping in order to sniff the ground and make sure he was on the right track, with Moon close behind. For what felt like hours they ran across Melemele Island, past all kinds of people and Pokemon.

The kidnapper had seemingly gone out of their way to make it difficult to track. They took a long, winding path across the island, climbing over fences and through forests, entering and leaving buildings, until eventually, they made it to the Hao’oil City Marina.

Rockruff ran up to the end of the dock before stopping in his tracks, Moon sliding to a stop beside him.

“Does the scent end here?” she asked. Rockruff nodded. Moon hung her head in resignation. “Damn...” 

She sat down on the dock, feet dangling centimetres above the water. “Now what do we do..?”

Rockruff whined, laying down next to her and placing his head on his paws. For a few minutes, he simply watched the waves move up and down. He glanced at Moon, but then noticed something. He nuzzled her hand, causing her to look at it and realise she was still holding onto the scrap of fabric from earlier.

Moon decided to take a closer look at the fabric. She ran a finger over it, analysing it’s texture. It was kind of soft, but firm, a lot like Kukui’s lab coat. She turned it inside out, and noticed a small, very familiar gold logo sewn into the fabric.

Moon clenched her fist around it, rage filling her eyes.

“Aether Foundation.”

 

Moon never liked boats. She could ride Charizard over miles of ocean or float around on a Lapras no problem, but boats never failed to make her dizzy and nauseous. Fresh air helped a bit, so she decided to stay out of the deck until the ride was over.

The trainer leaned on the railing, arms crossed, staring at the water but not really seeing it. Her mind was elsewhere. She had let some of her Pokemon out - Chisana always loved boat rides, but she could get a bit too enthusiastic sometimes, so Moon had Tsubasa keep an eye on her just in case. That way, if Chisana fell into the water, the Cannon Pokemon would be able to quickly swoop in and retrieve her.

Right now though, the boat ride was the last thing on the Pikachu’s mind. She sat on the wooden deck while Tsubasa perched on the railing next to her, both giving their trainer a sad look. Chisana looked up at Tsubasa, asking her what was wrong with Moon. Tsubasa shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know. Chisana sighed and stood up, running over to the girl and jumping up on her shoulder. Moon silently raised a hand and pet her head, but didn’t give the Mouse Pokemon any response other than that. Tsubasa watched, feeling sorry for her trainer but wishing to give her space.

 

As soon as Moon entered Aether Paradise, Shinku perched on her shoulder, she noticed something was off. The employees gave her their usual friendly greeting, but their hearts weren’t in it. Some refused to make eye contact, others making excuses to leave the room as soon as the champion entered.

The Pokemon seemed to be on edge too. Instead of hanging out in their usual spots, where visitors could easily see them and marvel at them, most Pokemon were hiding in trees, behind rocks or underneath the water. Something had spooked them, and Moon had a pretty good feeling she could guess what it was.

“Moon, wait!”

Moon came to a halt, glancing behind her as Wicke ran up to her, heels clicking against the tiles. The woman paused for a moment to catch her breath, before addressing the girl in front of her.

“Professor Kukui just called me and told me what happened.” she explained after her heartbeat had settled to a regular pace. “I’ll get the whole foundation out there searching for her right away-”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Moon whipped her head around to look in front of her at the source of the cold, calculating voice that had interrupted their conversation. 

“Branch Chief Faba! What a surprise!” Wicke exclaimed, a hint of nervousness in her voice. “What are you doing out in the conservation area?”

“Come on Wicke, you know you don’t have to use my title in front of Moon!” Faba replied, lifting his hand with a slight wave. 

Moon’s eyes widened when she noticed part of his green sleeve had been ripped off.

“Sorry, Faba...”

“To answer your previous question,” he continued, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I simply wanted to check up on everything. The atmosphere has gotten rather grim as of late, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed it has!”

Moon had tuned out their conversation. The ripped piece of fabric had been from Faba’s lab coat, it had to be - it was the same colour, appeared to be the same fabric, and it had the Aether Foundation logo on it. And Moon didn’t know of anyone else in the Foundation who wore any kind of green uniform...

But the question then is, why? Why would Faba kidnap Lillie? What was he planning to do with her.

“What do you think, Moon?” 

“Huh?” Moon lifted her head at the sound of Wicke saying her name. “What was that?”

“She asked if you would like to join us for a coffee on Ula’Ula Island,” Faba informed her, giving her a grin that was more creepy than pleasant.

“I'm not going anywhere with you,” Moon snapped, glaring at the man, hand in her pockets. Shinku perched himself on her shoulder, ready to pounce, yellow rings glowing. 

Wicke stepped back. “Moon, what’s wrong?”

Moon took a hand out of her pocket, holding the piece of fabric. “This is yours, right? It ripped off of your sleeve.”

Faba blinked in shock, removing his hands from his pockets, lifting up one to show the rip in his sleeve. “Yes, that is correct. I must have lost it while doing some field work-”

“Then how come I found it laying amongst shattered glass in Kukui’s lab where Lillie had been kidnapped from?” Moon closed her eyes, smirking. “I doubt you were doing field work down there, so what, did it just fly away or something?”

Faba opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to think of something to say, sweat dripping down his brow. “W-well, that is to say, uh...”

“You have her, don’t you?” Moon asked. “You kidnapped Lillie, and now you’ve hidden her somewhere.”

Faba sighed. “Alright, you’ve got me. I kidnapped the girl.” He smirked. “However, if you think I’m going to let you take her back, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Wicke silently slipped away in search of help as Moon grinned.

“I was hoping you’d say that. Shinku, use Shadow Ball!”

Shinku jumped off Moon’s shoulder, summoning a crackling ball of dark energy and throwing it towards Faba. The man didn’t flinch at all, instead reaching into his coat pocket and bring out a circular device, pushing a button then throwing it into the air in front of him. It glowed green and an energy shield appeared in front of him, Shinku’s Shadow Ball dissolving on contact. 

Faba grinned widely, chuckling. “Now it’s my turn.” 

He reached into his pocket again and threw another disc at the Umbreon. The disc glowed cyan, summoning a thin spear. Shinku dodged by jumping into the air, but Faba had predicted that and threw another spear at him, hitting him in the chest.

Shinku fell to the floor with a thud, blood leaking from the hole in his chest as the spear disappeared, staining the white tiles red.

“Shinku!!” Moon rushed to her Pokemon’s side, scooping him up in her arms. Shinku opened his eyes slightly, a sliver of red showing behind his eyelids. 

“Shinku...hang in there buddy, you’ll be OK, I promise-”

Moon had been so concerned about her Pokemon, that she hadn’t noticed Faba shoot her with a tranquillising dart until it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN
> 
>  
> 
> (I wrote this at 11PM sorry if there's any spelling/grammar issues I didn't notice)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Head's up - there's a 'torture' scene coming up later on so if that makes you uncomfortable sorry.

When Moon woke up, she felt weak. For a few minutes, she couldn’t even open her eyes. Sounds around her were muffled, as if she was attempting to listen to them from underwater.

“...et’s see...systems are in ord...perfect...”

Anger bubbled in Moon’s chest as she recognised the man’s voice. Her eyelids twitched, eyes slowly opening as the trainer slowly pushed herself up onto all fours. Her vision was still blurry, but she could still make out the tall, hunched over figure of Branch Chief Faba.

How she hated that man.

As her vision cleared, Moon looked around at her surroundings. She was in some kind of lab, most likely beneath the main Aether Paradise building. A few metres in front of her Faba stood in front of a series of monitors, all showing various displays, some beeping. He didn’t seem to have noticed Moon had awoken. Past him were around 20 huge tubes filled with some kind of teal goo, most of which held some kind of Pokemon. Most of them were unconscious, but some were awake, frantically banging against the glass or simply floating there, having given up on escaping hours ago.

Moon leant on the wall as she stumbled to her feet, struggling to stay quiet so as not to give herself away. If she was going to do this, she’d need the element of surprise on her side.

She began to step forward, but stopped when she heard a soft rattling. She looked down and realised a chain had been attacked to her ankle. Leaning down to look at it closely, it was easy to see that the chain was strong. The metal was thick, and wasn’t rusted in any area - it seemed to have no weak point. The chain wasn’t very long, and it was connected a cuff on Moon’s leg. The other end of the chain connected to a larger ring, which was attached to a metal pole against the wall. There was a small keyhole on it, but Moon had nothing to try and pick the lock with.

She heard a whirring behind her and whipped back around, careful not to move her chained leg at all. She watched as one of the larger tubes pulled away from the others, moving along a track on the ground towards Faba. It raised up and tilted forward slightly, giving Faba a perfect view at the contents of the tube.

Inside the tube was a girl, white hoodie and sweatpants torn into pieces, blonde hair flowing slowly through the goo.

“Wake up,” Faba commanded, voice devoid of any kind of emotion. No response.

Faba chuckled, and Moon could tell he was grinning. “Need some motivation do you?” he chuckled, reaching forward and pressing a bright blue button.

The inside of the base and the top of the tube began to glow, sparkling with electricity. Faba pressed the button again and held it down, and the light flashed, electricity flowing through the goo in sharp bolts, all striking the girl inside.

Her emerald eyes snapped open as she cried out in pain, only to swallow some of the strange goo as she gasped for air. She writhed in agony, twitching as the electricity crackled loudly.

“LILLIE!!” Moon rushed forward instinctively, wanting nothing more than to protect her. She didn’t get very far before she found she couldn’t move her leg. She looked back to see that the chain was holding her back. She frantically tried to pull away, but the metal was too strong for her. Faba smirked as he released the button, allowing Lillie a moment of respite as her body went limp and she struggled to catch her breath.

For a moment, Moon pondered how she could even breathe inside there, but she didn’t have time to think it over before Faba turned to face her.

“So, you finally decide to wake up,” his voice was calm and calculated - way too calm for a man who had just caused a 13 year old girl so much pain. He slowly stepped closer Moon, every step fuelling the trainer’s rage.

“W-why did you do that?” Moon growled, clenched her fists and shaking in anger.

“Because she wouldn’t wake up.”

Moon clenched her teeth, terror and rage filling her veins. He said it so calmly, so nonchalantly - ‘because she wouldn’t wake up’, who the fuck tortures someone just because they won’t wake up, who does that? Who can do that without feeling some kind of empathy, who can possibly go about that kind of thing so calmly?

Moon turned back towards the tube, where Lillie watched her with wide eyes, hands pressed against the glass. The girl’s gaze tightened and she floated backwards, placing her bare feet against the glass on the back of the tube. Bending her knees, she pushed herself forward with as much strength as she could muster, only to crash right into the glass.

Faba glanced back at her. “Nice try, but that glass is the thickest, strongest I could find. There’s no way you could break it.”

Lillie glared at him, pushing herself back and trying again. And again. And again. Each time, her hits got weaker and weaker, and the glass never so much as cracked. Moon could only watch as she threw herself against the side of the tube, desperately trying to escape, only to fail over and over again. Faba laughed maniacally at her desperation.

“Lillie, please, stop!” Moon cried out, eyes burning with unshed tears, not wishing to watch the girl she loved torture herself any longer. Lillie hesitated, and though her words weren’t audible, Moon could tell what she was saying.

_“Moon...”_

Moon tugged at the chain again, but it wouldn’t budge. She reached out for Faba, but he leapt away, just out of arms reach. Moon frantically grasped at him, but no matter what she did, he always stood no more than a centimetre out of her reach, taunting her.

It was then that Moon realised she still had something in her pockets.

She stepped back, appearing to have given up. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, placing her hands in her pockets and leaning up against the wall. She felt around inside her pockets, looking for a particular object. When she finally felt the correct shape under her fingers, she tightly grasped the object.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Faba, who was staring at her expectantly.

“What are you looking at, psycho?”

“I simply did not think you would give up so easily,” the man sighed, seemingly disappointed. “It’s not like the Champion of Alola to back down without a fight.”

“That was a fight, wasn’t it? Besides, I’m still pretty exhausted from that drug you gave me,” Moon argued, waiting for an opening.

“Hmph,” Faba closed his eyes, turning back around. “No matter. I don’t have time to deal with people like you anyway.”

As he began to walk back over to his control panel, Moon’s hand whipped out of her pocket as she threw the Master Ball she had been holding into the air. Faba whipped around at the sound of a Pokeball opening, and jumped back just in time to avoid one of Nebby’s large wings.

The Ultra Beast screeched, eyes full of hatred for the scientist in front of them.

“Nebby, use Moongeist Beam!”

Nebby moved to prepare the attack, but then hesitated. Where was the Pokemon? Unless Moon wanted them to...

Nebby looked back at Moon, whose eyes shone with rage. They crooned, trying to communicate to their trainer that they did not wish to attack a human, but Moon wouldn’t listen.

“Nebby! Moongeist Beam!” Moon commanded, louder this time.

Nebby knew she wouldn’t take know for an answer, so, reluctantly, they turned back around and raised their wings, which glowed like the moon.

What Moon didn’t notice was Faba’s sadistic grin as he pulled a small device out of his lab coat pocket and pressed a button.

Nebby released their attack, and it wasn’t until too late that Moon noticed the test tube holding Lillie move forward in front of the scientist, taking the hit.

Glass exploded across the room, the sound sending shockwaves through the building, almost knocking Moon to the floor. Smoke billowed from the center of the room where the beam had hit, causing Moon’s eyes to water as she struggled to breathe. When the smoke cleared, she saw Lillie, lying limp on the floor in a puddle of goo, the edges of her clothes singed.

“No...no no nononononono,” Moon murmured as she rushed forward, the chain immediately snapping, weakened from the explosion. There was a squelch as Moon ran into the goo, which stained her sneakers and nearly caused her to slip and fall as she stumbled over to Lillie.

When she finally reached her, Moon collapsed onto her knees, wrapping her arms around the other girls frail body and holding her close. Moon placed two fingers to her neck, sighing in relief when she felt Lillie’s pulse, weak as it was. Moon gently placed a hand on the side of Lillie’s face, ignoring how cold and clammy it felt, presumably from the strange liquid she had been suspended in. Moon noticed a burn on the back and sides of her neck, most likely from the electric shock, and her hands were covered in bruises from her attempts to smash the glass from the inside. Moon blinked back tears as she hugged the other girl’s limp body close to her own, not wanting to let go.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard Faba’s quiet chuckle. She glared up at him as his soft laughter became maniacal cackling, as if he was watching some kind of comedy show.

“You really thought that would work on me, did you?” he asked incredulously. “I saw that coming from a mile away!”

Moon gently laid Lillie back down on the floor, standing up, face expressionless. She placed one hand in her pocket, pointing the other in Faba’s direction.

“Nebby, Moongeist Beam.”

Blinded by rage, Nebby didn’t hesitate as they once again prepared the attack. Faba smirked as he once again raised the device in his hand, finger hovering over the button.

“How stupid can you get..?”

Nebby released their attack, and Moon threw her hand out of her pocket, sending out another Pokemon. “Kakusu, don’t let him press that button!”

Kakusu leapt forward with extraordinary speed, jumping in front of Faba. A shadowy claw reached out from underneath her costume, grabbing the device in the man’s hand and leaping back. Faba frantically reached for the Mimikyu, grasping for the device in her claw, but it was too late.

His scream of terror filled the lab as the beam made it’s mark.


	17. Chapter 17

The smell of burnt flesh and Faba’s pained screams filled the air as Nebby’s attack hit him directly. Moon fell back to her knees, holding Lillie close once again. Kakusu fell back to the floor, unharmed - though the same couldn’t be said for her costume. She rushed over to Moon, holding the device out to her. Moon took it from the Disguise Pokemon, patting the now limp head of her costume before returning her to her Pokeball. Taking a closer look at it, the device appeared to be some kind of remote control.

Curious, Moon pushed the button labelled ‘Release’

All at once, the hatches on the top of each of the tube opened up, the Pokemon inside waking up. They scrambled out of the strange goo, some Pokemon helping others that were unable to escape by themselves. 

An Umbreon with a bandage wrapped around his chest clambered out of a tube with the help of a Jolteon and ran over to Moon.

“Shinku!” Moon cried out in relief as the normally quiet and reserved Pokemon leapt into her arms as she held him close. 

“I’m glad you’re alright, Shinku,” she said, holding him at arms length and letting him climb up onto her shoulder. She turned towards Faba, who hadn’t yet said a word.

Despite his uncharacteristic silence, the man was still conscious. The visible parts of his skin were covered in bruises, and his leg seemed to have been broken by the attack’s sheer force. Part of his lab coat had been burnt off as smoke drifted off of him. His glasses had been cracked. He sat up, shaking slightly, but giving Moon a shit-eating grin none the less.

She glared at him. “It’s over now. Let us go,” she commanded.

Faba smirked. “Not quite...” The man closed his eyes, reached into his lab coat’s inner pocket. “You see, I know about Lillie’s condition.” He pulled out a small vial, filled with a deep blue liquid that sparkled in the light. “This is the cure.”

Moon’s eyes widened, a small flicker of hope growing in her chest.

“The thing is, when I developed this, no-one was there to record it,” Faba lamented, tilting the vial left and right and watching the antidote swish from side to side. “Meaning that is could take weeks, months, even years to recreate it...” he twisted the lid off the top of the vial. “Sure would be a shame if something were to...” Faba smirked sadistically as he slowly tipped the vial, the liquid getting closer and closer spilling, “...happen to it.”

“No!”

“If you don’t want to lose this antidote, I suggest you do as I say.”

Moon clenched her teeth, rage bubbling in her veins as she held Lillie closer to her protectively. Moon considered her options - she couldn’t afford to lose that antidote, but if she did as he said, who knows what could happen.

“M-Moon...don’t...” Lillie softly protested, eyes slowly opening. 

“But the antidote-”

“That doesn’t...matter...” Lillie lightly grasped at Moon’s shirt. “I don’t care...what happens to...me...” 

“Lillie...”

Lillie looked out at all the Pokemon that had been freed who were now frantically searching for an escape. “All these Pokemon...you can’t just...let them stay...here...”

The Jolteon from earlier walked over to Moon’s side, looking at up at her as if begging her to help him escape. 

“I know that, but...” Moon argued. “What about you?”

“I told you...it doesn’t matter what happens to me...I don’t care...”

“I care, dammit!” Moon snapped. She knew Lillie was selfless, she always had been, but possibly putting her life at risk to help others, because she didn’t care what happened to her as long others were safe...it was too much. Moon struggled to hold back tears. “I care about what happens to you...I don’t want you to leave me...”

Realisation shined in Lillie’s eyes as they widened slightly. She lifted a hand to Moon’s cheek, stroking it softly, giving the trainer a soft smile. “I know...”

Lillie’s hand went limp and fell to her side as she once again fell unconscious. 

Moon grabbed Lillie’s hand in her own and held it against her chest, squeezing her eyes shut and trembling, determined not to let the tears falls.

“Well? What is your decision?” Faba asked, holding the vial in front of him, ready to empty it at any moment.

Moon stood up, leaving Shinku and Jolteon to stay at Lillie’s side. “I accept your deal...but you have to give me the antidote first.”

Faba smirked, placing the lid back on the vial. “It’s a deal.” 

Moon walked over to where he sat, unable to stand due to his broken leg. She knelt down and took the vial, placing it inside her jacket’s inner pocket and zipping it up. 

As Moon stood up, she forcefully threw a Pokeball at Faba hitting him square in the middle of his forehead. The force knocked him onto his back and Pokeball rebounded, opening up and releasing Moon’s Pikachu.

“Chisana, use Thunderbolt on all those computers and find a way outta here!” Moon commanded, rushing back over to Lillie and picking her up in a bridal carry. Electricity filled the air as Faba’s computers were destroyed, leaving him unable to control any of his machinery in the room.

Several Pokemon decided to assist Moon, Shinku and Chisana in bring down the laboratory. A Lucario began bashing against the wall, causing small cracks, but not enough to do nay sufficient damage. A Graveller used Earthquake, causing some of the building to break down and Moon had to jump out of the way at the last second to avoid some falling debris. Chisana promptly scolded the Pokemon for putting her trainer in danger before leaping off to command another group. 

“You damn brat...” Faba, stumbled to his feet, ignoring the searing pain in his leg. All he could think of was the burning hatred he had for the girl who had ruined months worth of experimenting in only a few minutes. He leapt towards Moon, but she easily dodged. Faba continued to attack her but Moon continued to dodge, until eventually she found herself up against a wall.

Moon looked around, searching for an escape route. Chisana was stood in front of the far wall where the elevator was positioned. She jumped up over some of the rubble and mashed the button, trying to get it to move, but the screen above the door refused to light up. She frantically looked around her at all the Pokemon and her trainer staring at her expectantly. They were counting on her.

Chisana jumped down from the rubble and pounced in front of the elevator door, eyes shining with determination as she shouted commands to the other Pokemon. The electric types all lined up beside her as the fighting types rushed over to the side, ready to rush in. The other Pokemon backed away, giving them space.

Faba simply watched, astounded at the Pokemon’s actions. “Incredible...they seem to be capable of moving in an organised fashion equal to the capabilities of a human...”

Chisana began shouting a countdown, and the electric and fighting types tensed, ready to move. On a particularly loud shout, all the electric types unleashed their strongest moves, channeling a continuous stream of electricity to the elevator. 

Before long, the electricity began to weaken as the Pokemon found they couldn’t maintain the attack for any longer. The bolt flickered out, and for a moment, it seemed like their actions had been for nothing.

A ‘4’ lit up on the screen above the elevator, and began counting down. 

Faba’s fascinated gaze disappeared as he realised what was happening. He rushed over, fully intent on stopping the elevator from reaching the ground, but a Delphox and Lucario jumped in front of him. A Machamp and a Machoke rushed over to the elevator doors, pulling them open with a groan as the elevator itself came to rest outside the doors. Chisana began herding the Pokemon into the elevator, starting with the weakest ones.

Faba turned around and glared at Moon, who was smirking at him. 

“Game over.”

Faba was furious. There was nowhere for him to go - he was surrounded by all kinds of Pokemon and the strongest trainer in the region, and the only way out was through an elevator that said Pokemon had already taken control of.

Of course, it wouldn’t be like him to not have a Plan B.

Faba reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small handgun, firing a warning shot into the air. Several Pokemon panicked at the sound, rushing either into the elevator or under a table. 

The scientist twisted his body and shot the Bisharp standing at his side. The Pokemon stumbled backwards grasping at it’s chest, falling back onto the ground. A Gallade ran over to it’s side, holding it close and attempting to heal it. Several other Pokemon also backed off after seeing their comrade get shot, and the others were so shocked that Faba easily pushed past them or shot some of the more protestant ones.

He ran over to Moon, pointing the gun directly at her forehead, a maniac grin on his face.

“If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!” he yelled, pulling the trigger. 

Moon only just found herself with enough time to duck out of the way the bullet hitting the wall next to her. Faba turned shot again, and Moon dodged to the other side, barely avoided being shot in the heart, the bullet instead lodging itself in her arm. She fell backwards and fell on her back against one of the tubes, unable to catch herself with her arms full.

Faba growled as he walked over to where she stood, replacing the bullets in his gun. He stood over her and pointed the gun at Lillie. “Maybe I should kill her first instead...”

Moon leaned forward and pulled Lillie close. “Over my dead body.”

Faba tilted the gun upwards. “So be it.”

He fired the shot.

At the last second, Moon lunged forward, ducking out of the way. She rushed fast Faba, sticking out a leg as she went, tripping him. Moon whipped around and skidded to a stop as Faba turned back around, picking up his gun.

“There are 6 bullets in the cylinder,” Moon muttered. “He’s already fired one, so I just have to dodge 5 more...”

Faba fired again while standing back up, which Moon jumped to the side, dodging with ease. Faba predicted this however, and fired again at where he predicted Moon to land. Moon noticed as one foot hit the ground, and jumped away with as much force as she could muster. She lost her balance and struggled to regain her footing, stumbling to the side and crashing into the wall with her injured arm. She slid down to the ground, leaving a smear of blood on the wall from her wound.

She knew she couldn’t afford to stay still though, and leaned forward, barely avoiding another bullet which lodged itself in the wall behind where her head would’ve been. 

“Three...”  
She stumbled to her feet, sliding across the floor as she stepped in a pile of blood. When she stood on her right foot, she realised the bullet from before had actually hit her lower leg, making it difficult to stand up straight. Blood poured down her leg, staining the tiles beneath her blood-stained feet. The left sleeve of her jacket was soaked and stained red. Moon could feel herself weakening as each breath became more difficult than the last.

She needed to finish this quick.

Moon dashed to the left. Faba turned and shot his gun, and Moon quickly dashed to the right, approaching him. 

“Two.”

Moon zig-zagged around Faba, changing direction whenever his finger moved towards the trigger. She was unstable, slipping on her own blood, unsteady on one of her legs and unable to use her arms to support herself as she held on tightly to Lillie.

Finally, Moon found herself at a good range and ran straight forward at Faba making herself an easy target. He immediately fired.

“One!” Moon cried as she leapt into the air, jumping over the bullet and landing with her left foot on Faba’s gun. He lost his grip on it, and Moon immediately swung around, kicking him in the face with her other foot, knocking the man to the ground. 

Moon knew she had to move fast - she only had a few seconds before Faba would retrieve his gun and stand back up again. After making sure no Pokemon were left in the room, she rushed towards the elevator, where Chisana was holding the door for her. Moon had only just made it into the elevator when a gunshot rang out and a bullet lodged itself into the control panel next to her. The panel sparked and the lights in the elevator switched off. 

Chisana frantically mashed the button to close the elevator door, but nothing happened. Faba quickly approached them, gun in hand, full of another 5 bullets. The Machoke from earlier pushed forward and slowly pulled the doors together. Lucario, Delphox, and a Chesnaught all jumped into help him, managing to close the door seconds before Faba reached it.

No matter what she did, Chisana couldn’t get the elevator to move. She was panicking. What would happen if they couldn’t escape?

Shinku glanced around, searching for a solution. Something on the roof caught his attention and he jumped up onto Moon’s shoulder, nudging her face.

“What is it?”

He pointed a paw at a hatch on the roof labelled ‘Emergency Exit”.

Moon grinned. “Good find!”

Putting Lillie on the ground, Moon jumped onto Lucario’s shoulders and reached up to the hatch, opening it. 

“Alright! Smallest and injured Pokemon come up first!” she commanded, holding out her arms. Gallade and Chesnaught lifted Bisharp into Moon’s arms, where she proceeded to lift him up and place him on the roof of the elevator,

The constant banging against the elevator doors only reminded Moon how little time they had.

Next was Lillie. Then Shinku, Chisana, Delphox, Machamp, Machoke, Moon, and finally Lucario. Just as Moon was helped Lucario onto the roof, she heard a heavy groan as the elevator doors opened. She jumped forward closing the hatch and laying on top of it as Faba banged against it, causing it to jolt up and down. 

Chisana, who had now calmed down, commanded everyone to climb up the chains one at a time in order to avoid the chain breaking from all the weight. Machamp went first, Bisharp over his shoulder as he climbed up as quick as he could. Machoke followed with Lillie, and then the others climbed up, leaving just Shinku, Jolteon, Chisana and Moon.

“Alright. I need you all to climb up as quick as you can,” Moon ordered. “I’ll come up after you. I’ll have to be quick, but I think I can do it.”

Chisana nodded, shouting something at the other two before jumping onto the chain and climbing up, Shinku following. As soon as they disappeared from sight, Moon took a deep breath and jumped up from the hatch.

The hatch immediately sprung open as Moon leapt onto the chain. She had just began to climb when a bony hand grabbed her injured leg. Moon bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain as she frantically tugged away. She tried to heave herself up, but her hands were slippery from sweat and her muscles ached from the excessive use. 

Moon’s eyes burned with unshed tears - whether they were from fear, despair or pain, she couldn’t tell. 

Just as she was about to give up, she heard a clang from above. Looked up, she saw several men and woman, some dressed in grey uniforms, some wearing blue uniforms with ‘POLICE’ written on the shirt pocket.

Never before had Moon been so glad to see the cops.

“STAND DOWN.” A policeman shouted, voice echoing throughout the chamber. A man in a grey suit retrieved a rope with hooks on both ends from his pocket. He gave one end to a woman in a similar suit and attached the other to his belt and began climbing down to chamber towards Moon.

When the man’s feet hit the roof of the elevator, Moon instinctively stumbled back, eyes full of fear and mistrust.

“Hey, calm down,” he said. He appeared to be in his early 30s, thought it was hard to tell with the helmet. “It’s all over now.”

Faba, having given up on Moon the moment the police arrived, stood in the middle of the elevator as he listened to someone help Moon escape with clenched fists.

“Where did I go wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too good at writing action scenes so hopefully this was OK


	18. Chapter 18

“I know, I know...”

“ _And you are not to do anything like that ever again, understand?!_ ”

“Yes, Mum...”

“ _Good. I’m glad you’re alright Moon._ ”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Chisana jumped up the stairs and onto a railing, running over to where Moon was standing, leaning on a railing looking over Aether Paradise’s conservation area. She ran over to Moon, poking her arm with a paw to get her attention.

“I gotta go Mum, I’ll call you back,” Moon said, hanging up before her mother could protest.

Moon turned to Chisana. “What is it?”

Chisana motioned for Moon to follow her, jumping off the railing and beginning to run away. Moon nodded and turned to where her Toucannon was frolicking with a group of other Pokemon in the conservation area.

“Tsubasa!” Moon called her Pokemon, holding out an arm. Tsubasa faithfully flew up to her, resting on her arm. Moon stuck her other hand in her pocket as she walked behind Chisana, not wanting to put too much pressure on her leg.

Apparently, after Moon was knocked unconscious, Faba had one of his own Pokemon restrain Wicke and threatened to break every bone in her body if she said a word of what had happened to anyone. She agreed, but as soon as it was safe, she ran off in search of help. She knew it would be risky to use the phone as it wasn’t unlikely that Faba was monitoring all calls, so she went directly to Nanu to ask for his help. A few hours later they found Jolteon, who led them to the elevator shaft where Moon was trapped.

As soon as she had been rescued, Moon was rushed off to Aether Paradise’s infirmary. Her wounds were cleaned and bandaged, but she would have to get the bullets properly removed at a hospital. Her blood-stained sweatpants and casual jacket had been swapped out for formal white 3-quarter length pants and a white and yellow sleeveless top with the Aether Foundation logo on it, leaving her bandages visible and easy to access in case the wounds opened up again.

After Moon had gotten all bandaged up, Wicke told her to wait in the conservation area until she was needed. She figured the safest place for the trainer would be where there are always lots of people and Pokemon. Chisana had decided to stay with her to keep an eye on Shinku, who was being taken care of in another part of the infirmary.

As Moon followed Chisana towards the main elevator with Tsubasa on her arm, she grasped at the small vial containing the cure to Lillie’s condition in her pant pocket. Wicke had offered to take it from her, but Moon was hesitant to trust any Aether employees with such an important substance.

Moon took a deep breath as she selected the option on the elevator to go down to the Lab Area, Tsubasa flying over to talk to Chisana.

 

 

When Moon finally reached the floor, she found Professor’s Kukui and Burnet waiting for her. Relief flooded her chest as familiar and trustworthy faces greeted her, and without a single word she rushed over to them - as best as she could with one leg so badly injured - and jumped into Burnet’s arms. She buried her face in the woman’s lab coat in an attempt to hide her tears. She felt Kukui wrap his arms around the both of them, surrounded Moon in a small, but comfortable group hug.

After a few moments, Moon pulled away, furiously wiping her tears with her arm.

“A-alola, guys...” she greeted, smiling as widely as she could, even though her heart wasn’t quite in it.

“Alola, Moon,” Kukui replied, though lacking his usual cheerful tone. His grin faded into a serious frown. “We heard what happened. Are you alright?”

Moon nodded. “Y-yeah, I’m OK.”

Kukui nodded. “I heard that you have a cure for Lilile. Is that true?” he asked.

Moon nodded, taking the vial out of her pocket, thick blue liquid swishing inside.

“May I have it?”

Moon leaned forward to give the vial to him, but hesitated.

Usually, she would trust the professor at the drop of a hat, but right now, she wasn’t sure she could trust anyone.

She pulled away, holding the vial close to her heart and curling in on herself slightly. Kukui sighed, but not in disappointment. In fact, his facial expression suggested that he’d had a feeling something like this would happen.

“Please, Moon,” he murmured, kneeling down to her level and placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. Moon flinched slightly at the touch. “If you don’t give me the antidote, I can’t help Lillie.”

“...”

“Please.”

Moon sighed. She stared at the vial, knowing that it was probably Lillie’s only chance at getting back to normal. She was reluctant to risk Lillie’s safety, but she knew Kukui was right.

Why couldn’t she just trust him?

“Can I just...hold on to it?” Moon asked slowly. “Until you need to use it, I mean.”

Kukui glanced at Burnet, who nodded at him. “Alright. Come with us.”

 

 

Moon slowly pushed open the white door and stepped inside, Kukui and Burnet following behind her. The room was fairly small, but had all the equipment necessary for basic medical procedures. Lillie lay on the bed in a hospital gown, the blood all washed off.

Moon walked over to her, taking Lillie’s hand in her own. “It’s gonna be OK, Lillie. Everything’s gonna be fine soon.”

As Moon talked to Lillie, Burnet retrieved a syringe from a cabinet underneath the sink across from Lillie’s bed. Kukui stood at said sink, washing his hands before putting on a pair of gloves. Burnet handed the syringe to her husband before walking over to Moon.

“We’re going to need to antidote now.” After a moment’s hesitation, Moon nodded, taking the vial out of her pocket. Taking a deep breath, she reluctantly held it out to the professor, who took it and brought it over to Kukui.

She uncorked the vial and Kukui dipped the tip of the syringe into the mixture, drawing about half of it into the syringe. He then walked over to Lillie’s side as Moon stepped away and leant against the wall, turning away as he stuck the needle into Lillie’s arm. After hearing Kukui’s sigh of relief, she looked back. The syringe was now empty and Burnet was covering the prick in Lillie’s skin with a bandaid.

Kukui noticed Moon staring at him and gave her a gentle smile.

“She’s gonna be OK now.”


	19. Chapter 19

After Kukui had finished cleaning up, he left with the rest of the mixture to figure out how it was made and duplicate it so that he could give it to the rest of those suffering from the poison. Burnet had stayed for a while, but eventually was called back to her own lab. leaving Moon alone with Lillie.

Minutes passed, then hours. Moon had let out all her Pokemon one by one so they could say hi to Lillie. Nebby had spent a long time lying/kneeling next to Lillie’s bed (since he wouldn’t fit in the room otherwise), crooning and chirping at her. Shinku, who was now properly bandaged up, curled up at the end of her bed, falling asleep against her feet. Chisana and Kakusu acted cheerful, acting like everything was normal - probably more for Moon’s sake than for anyone else’s. Kurone crouched next to Moon, one paw on her shoulder.

Eventually, Moon ended up putting them all back in their Pokeballs after being told off for releasing so many Pokemon in the hospital area. Moon found herself sitting in silence as she watched Lillie’s chest rise and fall with each breath. 

Just as Moon began drifting off to sleep, she heard a soft groaning. Her eyes whipped open and she leant forward as Lillie sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Lillie slowly turned to look at Moon, eyes half closed, green eyes peeking from behind her eyelids.

“M...moon?”

For the first time in weeks, a genuine smile showed on Moon’s face she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around Lillie in a tight embrace.

“M-moon? What’s going on, is everything alright?” Lillie asked, perplexed and wide awake.

“S-sorry,” Moon muttered as she pulled away and sat on the bed next to her, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m just really glad you’re awake.”

Lillie’s eyes widened slightly, her cheeks turning pink. “Moon...” 

It was then that Lillie noticed something. “Hey, what happened to your arm?” she asked, worry shining in her eyes.

Moon chuckled. “After all that’s happened, you’re still worrying about me?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Well, after you fell unconscious, I kinda had a bit of a fight...” Moon admitted, looking over at the sink and avoiding eye contact. “And maybe I got shot a few times...”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘A FEW’?”

“Well, I dodged most of the bullets but I did get hit on the leg as well as my arm...”

“MOON”

“It was only to protect you!” 

“Wait, really?” Lillie asked, her protests dying in her throat. Had Moon really done all that for her? Why?

“Oh...” Lillie murmured with a small smile. “Of course...”

“Uh, what was that?” Moon asked.

Lillie glanced back up at her, placing a hand on Moon’s good arm and pulling her close, eyes fluttering close as she softly pressed her own lips against Moon’s.

Moon’s eyes widened and she felt her cheeks burn up at Lillie’s gentle kiss. Unfortunately, Moon was unable to savour the experience as it was over as soon as it began. Lillie slowly pulled away, slowly opening her eyes and glancing up at Moon, nervous at her reaction. 

For a few seconds, Moon stared a her in shock, face red, eyes wide. After a moment, Moon gently grasped onto Lillie’s arm with one hand and held onto her cheek with the other, pulling her in for another kiss. Lillie kissed back enthusiastically, and though they did nothing more than press their lips together, it was the most blissful sensation either girl had ever felt. A sensation that Moon thought she’d never get to experience.

Not wanting too overstep her boundaries, Moon reluctantly pulled away, but continued to hold Lillie close. She opened her mouth, only to close it again as she struggled to find the right words for what she wanted to say.

“I love you, Moon.”

Moon couldn’t help but sigh in relief in response to Lillie’s words. Words that she had dreamt of hearing from her, but never thought she’d actually hear.

“I love you too, Lillie."


End file.
